I had a odd moment on the phone with my mom today. She reads my blog. It bothers me for some reason. I don't like to think that I write for an audience. I started blogging simply to deal with the stress of graduate school. I still write to relive stress. I have a hard job made all the more difficult because of a highly charged political environment. So I write about whatever is in my head at the time I sit down at my computer. I just write.
I write fewer stories about my experiences because it's easier to pump out atheism based content. Plus, I'm not so sure people care. Oh wait - screw the whole audience thing, right? I should just write a few stories for myself. So here is a story from my day. If you don't like it, move on to one of my 2,700 other posts.
My wife's started my day today by reminding me to drop off a load of my son's clothing at the local Salvation Army. I had carried the clothing around in my truck for nearly two weeks. My wife was annoyed at my lack of follow through. You see, it's the start of the new school year. She's worried that poor kids might need my son's old clothing. She's a good woman at heart. I never think about this kind of thing.
After my 6:45 AM game of disc golf, I stopped at the Salvation Army to make a donation. I look like shit. I need coffee and a shower. It was 8:30 AM.
The fence was open and the place looked active so I walked towards the donation center looking for a warm body. I found a man moving boxes. I asked if they were open. His response was amazing. I'll do my best to repeat it below.
He yells, "Do we look open?" - He gestates with dirty hands around the parking lot. I look around and nod "Yes''.
He approaches while waving his hands. "That's what's wrong with you people, we're not open. We never open this early".
He puts his hands on his hips and then points at the Sun. "It ain't time yet. What does it take for you people to get that?"
He looks at me like he expects an answer. I keep my mouth shut.
"You people, you donors, you think you own the world. You come in here and drop your broken down shit off and expect me to jump around like a slave kissing your ass. Well let me tell you, we ain't open yet so I'm not kissing your ass."
I ask, "When do you open"? I'm already thinking about breaking his legs. I need to leave.
He points at the building and says "Figure it out yourself".
I look. I don't see any numbers, no time, no indication of open or closed, just a jumble of signs. I ask again. He says, "What are you, stupid? 9:00 AM".
I'm a nice guy, but I'm not a nice guy at the same time. I've heard it described as slow fuse, big boom. I think about hitting him in a soft spot, but dismiss it quickly. It's better to just drive away, so I do.
I'm back in 25 minutes. Mr. Nasty (that's what I call him now), has transformed into Mr. Nice Guy. I hold 50 pounds of clothing. He asks me to put it in the container for him. I say, "No, I expect you to jump down here and kiss my ass". He looks at me kind of funny. I see the lights come on.
He jumps down off the truck and offers an excuse. "Look man, this job sucks. I was just blowing off steam". I look him off. It scares him. He jumps back into the donations container and does some writing at his kiosk while muttering insincere apologies. A moment later he hands me three receipts and then winks. I just walk away.
My wife thinks I'm a hero.
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Volly · 869 weeks ago
I feel for that guy. Not that I sympathize with his particular "problem," and (to my credit) not that I've ever gone THAT much off on anyone ... but on the inside I've very much been there. Just those "open mouth, insert foot" moments when the internal thoughts leak out. And the way people respond back really makes a difference. I'm always willing to apologize, and sincerely, after that stupid red fog goes away. The last time it happened to me, some nice, innocent person attempted to tell me I had a flat tire when I was in a huge hurry to get somewhere. I already knew the tire was flat and being told by someone was, to me, really insulting. What, they thought I couldn't feel the damn thing flumping away with each revolution? So when this poor person tapped on my window to tell me about it, I nearly took her head off, then hurried away to my destination (a gas station, followed by a luncheon). About 10 minutes later (or sooner -- I generally regret my outbursts almost immediately, albeit not soon enough) I thought about my brattiness and realized I'd been an ass. I had a vague idea who the person was and where to find her, and spent a good part of the ensuing afternoon trying to track her down. No luck. I can still see the rather shocked look on her face after I told her off. I still hope to encounter her at some point, though now it's been a few months.
I'm glad you didn't really hammer the guy, because if you had, then he'd just have one more thing to resent "you people" for. If he has any sensitivity at all, he'll probably spend some time thinking about it and hopefully dealing with it privately so such a thing doesn't happen again. Hopefully he's thinking about how close he came to losing his job.
So thanks on behalf of the stressed-out part-time @$$holes everywhere!
Mojoey 107p · 869 weeks ago
It was only later that I realized he was standing in front of my truck because of oncoming traffic. I felt like a total ass, and I did it in front of my wife. I mean geez.
Jack 119p · 869 weeks ago
Mojoey 107p · 869 weeks ago
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
I am writing you this note to tell you that while your son isn't as hard ass an atheist as I'd like him to be, his blog is entertaining, topical and informative.
Congratulations on having raised him so well.
It couldn't have been easy.
Yours truly,
Hump