Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Yesterday on the bus, a semi-homeless woman tapped me on the shoulder and said, "President Ford had a stroke." That was it--no introduction, no follow-up--just a totally random statement. It's always so unnerving to me anyway when strangers talk to me on the bus--or any public place for that matter. Why can't they just leave me alone? And to imagine that I was putting people in that situation EVERY DAY when I was a missionary! If any Norwegians out there are reading this, I'l like to say I'm sorry. Anyway, I instantly thought, "This lady it totally crazy! Gerald Ford has been dead for YEARS!" A minute later she tapped me on the shoulder again and told me that he'd been sick. I'm thinking, "Is she living thirty years in the past? WHAT is she talking about and would it hurt her to run a comb through her hair once in a while?" (Okay, that last part didn't have anything to do with what she was saying, but I couldn't help thinking it--and I'm all for full disclosure here.) Fortunately my stop allowed me to escape, and as soon as I got off the bus, I called my grandmother to ask her if Ford was still alive. Well... it turns out he's still alive and that "crazy" lady was just making small talk. Ooops! (But that didn't change the fact that she needed to comb her hair.)

Also, my grandmother solved my 'getting rid of the help' problem for me--she suggested I put the cleaning on hold since we'll be out of town for the holidays and tell them that we'll call them when we get back to restart our schedule--and then just never call them back. I know, I know, it's a TAD cowardly--but they're Eastern European--what if they respond with a vendettta or a blood feud? THEN where would we be? This way seems preferable for all involved--except the cleaners, or course.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey look! It's me and Isis!

Dave D. said...

Kinda reminds me of the bit in So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish where Arthur Dent is eating cookies at a train station and the guy sitting in front of him starts eating them too. Arthur is so confused he doesn't know what to say. Anyway, after they're all eaten the guy leaves and Arthur realizes that his cookies were underneath a newspaper and he had actually been eating the other guy's cookies.

Anonymous said...

First you tell me that you look like you are too outstanding of a citizen to be approached by the guy in the Lloyd center selling jewelry, and now you are too good to talk to strangers.....Jeremy!!!, WWJD? :)

Jeremy said...

WWJD? What would Jeremy do? I just told you what I'd do.