Does this Look Like a Taxi to You?

There have been a couple comments about the old Indian lady and whether or not she mistook me for a Taxi.

You be the judge.

Cleanup on Isle One

This happened in a grocery store I frequently shop at.

We are definitely taking over too much of the planet.

People Are Strange

I went shopping on Columbus Day (last Monday). I'm actually going to a Halloween party for the first time in years. I'm really looking forward to it. Halloween was always my fav holiday. I haven't been into it for a couple years, for obvious reasons.

I was out and about running errands when son called and wanted a shake from Micky D's. As I was at the window waiting for my order I watched an older woman come out of the door and look directly at me, no big deal. Then...she walked over and opened my passenger door. Caught of guard, all I could say was "Can I help you?". She was a bit flustered, apologized and closed the door She then walked to the SUV behind me and got in. The female driver, obviously her daughter, had her hand over her forehead and was shaking her head. I started roaring! I could picture my Grandmother doing the exact thing with my Mom.

Alone, that would be a chuckle moment, but there's more.

I hit Micheal's for supplies for my costume. This particular Micheal's is in a strip mall with one entrance and a fair amount of traffic. As I was waiting at the light to exit, an Indian woman (in Salwar dress with a nose piercing) with a Micheal's bag came to my passenger window. She spoke broken English and said "Burlington Center" as she pointed in the direction I would be traveling. I thought she was asking me if that was the correct direction for Burlington Center and I said "Yes, that's where it is." She then started reaching for the door handle saying "Burlington Center, I help you."

Hmmmmm.

Let's think for a moment here.

Here is a woman that appears to not speak English very well, offering to help me, an American born and raised - that obviously knows where she is going, assistance in getting to Burlington Center. I wasn't sure if she was playing a good con or rather naive of American ways. After thinking about it a few days though, it was a pretty good attempt for a Grandma. I was one of many cars in line. She singled out the single woman in her 40's (I'll die before I say middle aged, I am not that old!). It's probably worked for her in the past, and maybe it did on someone else after I left. I just said "No, Thank you" and rolled up the window. I'm thankful the light was green.

Would I have given her a ride if she was honest and just asked for one? Probably not. This woman wasn't homeless, she was well kept and dressed.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but after thinking about it for several days, I'm more annoyed about it than anything else. I'm not prejudiced by any stretch of the imagination, but I do take offense at my good nature being taken advantage of. This 'incident' made me think of an episode of Oprah that had Gabriel Union on. Gabriel was raped by a 'customer' that walked into a shoe store where she was working. The one line that stuck in my mind is "As women, we're raised to be polite and you don't want anybody to feel bad…but my body, my instinct, everything in my being was saying, 'Run. Just run out of the store."

Now, I don't think that older woman was going to rape me (chuckle), but...I do think it was a calculated attempt at manipulation. I bet she speaks English a hell of a lot better than she displayed to me. I'm just glad that for once in my life, I went with my first instinct and didn't second guess myself about being offensive.

I'll never forget when I was 17 and working at a deli-sub shop one night. A man came in and asked for change for a 20 dollar bill. I gave him back 2 fives and a ten and then he handed it back to me and started talking real fast about wanting different change than I gave him. It was a con to try and talk fast enough and spit out enough numbers to confuse me into giving him back more than the $20 he gave me. To this day - 24 years later, I'm still not sure if he got me or not.

Perhaps it was the feeling of that experience that kicked in when I instantly said 'No thank you'.

It disgusts me that there are actually people out there that prey on the naivete, or general goodness of others. Grandmother types or not.

My rant aside, how wierd is it that two over 50 women tried to get in my car in one day?

It's the Little Things That Make Me Happy

I told you about the 'Lil fierce one' who is Mom's protector. Anyone that enters the house doesn't get up the stairs without Keegan making Mom jump out of her seat as he barks his fool head off and heads for the door.

The tables were turned Tuesday.

I crept into the house on tippie toes. It helped that Mom & Keegan were in the bathroom with the water running. Mom doesn't have the luxury of peeing alone anymore. Keegan follows her everywhere and will rest his head on her knee or pants when she's on the thrown. (Mom might think that's TMI but I think it precious).

I was coming down the hall just as Keegan rounded the bathroom door with Mom in tow.
I said "GOTCHA!"
He was able to get out one bark and it was as if he was shouting "SHIT!"
Then he immediately turned into a wiggling wagging excited ball of fur.

Scaring the hell out of my Mom's dog made my week.
I know, twisted.
You would have been tickled pink too, if you saw the look on his face.

It's Good to be Missed.

Sorry.
Sorry.
Sorry.
I'm still alive and all is status quo.
I don't have any excuse, other than maybe being lazy or disinterested in the things that I enjoy.
Or, not having anything good to say.
I certainly don't want to turn this into a whine blog.
The creative juices haven't been flowing.
I feel like I've been a robot going through daily life.
I get up, work, cook, clean, sleep and do it all over again.
Pretty boring shit.
Although.
I think I'm finally starting to take an interest in my life again.
You're gentle proddings have helped.
I owe Stu a meme.
I'm on Suldog's shit list. (Does reading regularly your blog count for anything?)
K's been a concerned dear friend and I haven't forgotten that I owe her a music DVD either.
It was wonderful to hear from cicibug again! (Would luv it even more if she BLOGGED!)

Thank you my friends.
Next time.......it's OK to hit me over the head with a 2X4.
Sometimes I need that.

Son went back to his old job August 18th.
He's doing great at his job.
Of course, having Mom drive him every day doesn't give him room to screw up.
He still has his moments at home when I want to rearrange his face.
Gawd, does he push the limits of reason and sanity.

We went to court yesterday for his B&E.
He was not arrested when this happened.
According to the summons it was a misdemeanor charge for trespassing in an abandoned trailer and under $250 damage to the 'victim'.
There were no charges for contributing to the delinquency of minors.
Son was the only one that was 18, the others were 15 & 16 years old.
We waited around for 3 hours before being called in.
The clerk was the fastest talking woman I have ever heard.
I was allowed to stay in the room at son's permission for support.
I was not allowed to speak.
Which was fine with me.
He's supposedly an adult now and needs to deal with the consequences of his actions on his own....kind of.
The prosecutor was the same police officer at the hearing for the 3 minors involved.
They went to court in July.
The neighbor, Kirk, has been in trouble before and has quite a record. The prosecutor in his case told him he wanted to send him to juvie. Instead, he got 6 months probation. They all got community service.
I was very worried when we never got anything from the court regarding son.
We finally got a summons in the mail in September.
The officer read through the incident report and agreed to give a similar sentence that the minors received, a six month continuance.
That means: If son stays out of trouble for the next six months, the charge is removed from his record as if it never happened.
After that was agreed to by the court and prosecutor, the officer spoke directly to my son regarding hanging around with minors and that it's inappropriate and can get him in to trouble.
The officer made eye contact with me while he was saying this, I just kept nodding and smiling in agreement.
I had son get a letter from his employer prior to the hearing, we didn't need it.
We were in there less than 10 minutes.
Son did a good job answering 'yes, sir' and 'no, sir' when queried by the prosecutor. (I had given him some advice on how to behave. I only wish he'd be that way with me!)
Luckily, son had not been in any legal trouble prior to this incident, or since.
He got off easy.

Now that this has been resolved, son had better tow the line at home.
He's been warned.
Failure to show respect or screwing up at home will lead to a choice: Eviction or Enlistment.
It hasn't been perfect.
It's better than it was.
In my heart, I still believe he needs to go in to some form of the service.
He has no dreams or goals, at least none that he's expressed to me.
His biggest goal at the moment is to get another car.
He knows he's on his own with this one.
We all know how it turned out last time.

I've moved to a new office at work.
1/3 the size of my previous office.
I'm not happy with the move, and I never got satisfactory justification for it.
I'm making the best of it though.
I've been uber busy at work and have no time to post or even surf while at work.
I read blogs during my lunch break.
That's prolly a good thing though, I'm more productive and don't have time to screw off.
I've also got a great view of the Pru out my window.

Mom is doing better.
Her grief therapist told her she should get a dog, on a Tuesday.
That Thursday I took her to the Lowell Humane Society.
Saturday we picked up Keegan.
He's a cockapoo.
He is a loving puddle of fur.
The first night he spent whining and uncomfortable in his crate.
The second night he was in the 'big bed' with Mom, and has been there since.
He's just over a year old now.
He was living with an elderly gentleman that went in to the hospital and couldn't care for him anymore.

At the pound he was reserved & quiet, almost as if he was depressed.
There were 3 women in the room when we met and he went immediately to my Mom, jumped up on his hind legs and proceeded to hump her.
Love at first sight.
Of course, he has been neutered since, so no more humping.
No one will ever be able to sneak into my Mom's house again.
He barks like crazy when he hears someone come in.

Since there is no such thing as coincidence, I believe this was meant to happen.
My Dad would have loved Keegan, and vice versa.
Point of fact: Keegan lays on the couch in the exact spot my Dad used to sit.
Keegan would also lay on the back of the couch in my Dads den, a room my Mom never goes in to.
He also sleeps on my Dad's side of the bed, when he isn't snuggled up to Mom.
Not to mention, my Dad was part Scottish.
Keegan is a Gaelic name meaning little fierce one, and ohhh, does he think he's so tough!
Two lives were saved with his adoption.
It was meant to be and I believe my Dad had something to do with it.

Although Tabitha will still hiss and growl when Dusty is being a terrorist, there have been a few times lately when Tabitha is doing the chasing. The two of them sound like horses running up and down the hall. It's a hoot to see the lil shit jump right over her when Tabitha pounces. Ahhh, the quick reaction time of youth. I believe I was officially forgiven when Tabitha started coming in to bed with me again. It only took a year. That puss can hold a grudge.

I do have some interesting updates on the Neighbors from Hell, but, I think I'll save that for my next post.

Till then...Luv you all, and I've missed you!