For today's joy-finding expedition, I didn't have to go far! I'm trying out the gift of knowledge and the fact that this old dog can learn a new trick. Here's my attempt at putting Madison Leigh's name in link format. Woohoo! It worked!
Thank you Elysabeth and CJ :)
Showing posts with label Ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ramblings. Show all posts
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
It gets easier with practice
Today's unexpected joy came easily: the devotion of friends.
My friend Madison Leigh (I wish I knew how to do that thing where her name is underlined and it's a link to her blog) did a little research on a problem I've been having. She put a few bits of information together and connected it to something else and voila! A clue that I can use to try to find some answers.
Thank you, Madison!
My friend Madison Leigh (I wish I knew how to do that thing where her name is underlined and it's a link to her blog) did a little research on a problem I've been having. She put a few bits of information together and connected it to something else and voila! A clue that I can use to try to find some answers.
Thank you, Madison!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Purple Is All That It Should Be
Oops - I missed 2 days! I forgot to factor in the weekend element. One of those days was a fun-filled family day, but I don't think it's fair to "go back" so I'll just pick up where I left off.
My 14 year old son wrote a poem for school and has graciously given me permission to post it here. It made me think and it made me smile so it's my "focus" option of the day. His assignment was to choose a color and write a poem about it. He chose my favorite color :)
The Color Purple
By Sean Roberts
The gentle blaze of a fire,
To a skier trapped in the snow.
The grace of an angel,
To a fallen soldier,
Purple rewards the patient.
Purple saves the punished.
Purple is all that it should be,
The regalia of royalty,
The symbol of patience,
The image of justice,
The emblem of hope and peace,
The pattern of prosperity,
The insignia of bliss,
The mark of a higher power
For all who have earned it,
Purple is all that it should be.
My 14 year old son wrote a poem for school and has graciously given me permission to post it here. It made me think and it made me smile so it's my "focus" option of the day. His assignment was to choose a color and write a poem about it. He chose my favorite color :)
The Color Purple
By Sean Roberts
The gentle blaze of a fire,
To a skier trapped in the snow.
The grace of an angel,
To a fallen soldier,
Purple rewards the patient.
Purple saves the punished.
Purple is all that it should be,
The regalia of royalty,
The symbol of patience,
The image of justice,
The emblem of hope and peace,
The pattern of prosperity,
The insignia of bliss,
The mark of a higher power
For all who have earned it,
Purple is all that it should be.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Multiplication
I set out to find one positive, uplifting moment from today and ended up having a hard time narrowing the field. Here are just a few things that brought me unexpected joy, in no particular order:
- Internet shopping (less hassle!)
- talking to my other sister today and laughing together
- my cuddly dog
Although I'm tempted to tell you how the "good" things just kept piling up - like something funny my son said, how my husband kept sending me bad Seahawks jokes today, and catching my daughter in an act of kindness - I think instead I'll try to focus on a few "good" moments at a time and really absorb them.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Don't say nothin at all
Remember Thumper? If you can't say something nice...
That's why I haven't been updating my blog. I realized today that I didn't want to post anything negative on my blog, and with the stuff that's been happening in my life lately, I honestly couldn't think of anything positive to say.
I was driving at the time and the thought had such a profound affect on me that I almost slammed on the brakes.
Bad things happen all the time. We are all surrounded by negativity, stress, unpleasantness. The only control we have over the negativity is how we allow it to impact our lives, right?
But heck I wouldn't even torture my characters the way I've been tortured this year! The deaths of pets, friends and family; a devastating loss of income; head-to-toe hives...? First of all, no one would believe my life in story form if I even had the desire to write it, which I don't. Second, the melodrama is just too far-fetched. Third -- oh, wait; I had a point to this rant.
For one week, I'm going to post a "positive" thing that happened during each day. A good thought. A kind word. A small accomplishment. Something uplifting that stands out from the rest of the day. Then I'm going to see if the act of shifting focus has an impact on my life. I don't expect my perspective to banish the bad, but perhaps it will turn my health around. It certainly can't hurt. And if it makes the spots go away, I'll be very happy.
Let's see...today...
One thing that stands out from the day is hugging my sister, because she needed it - and the wonderful feeling that a hug from me means a lot to her and vice versa.
That's why I haven't been updating my blog. I realized today that I didn't want to post anything negative on my blog, and with the stuff that's been happening in my life lately, I honestly couldn't think of anything positive to say.
I was driving at the time and the thought had such a profound affect on me that I almost slammed on the brakes.
Bad things happen all the time. We are all surrounded by negativity, stress, unpleasantness. The only control we have over the negativity is how we allow it to impact our lives, right?
But heck I wouldn't even torture my characters the way I've been tortured this year! The deaths of pets, friends and family; a devastating loss of income; head-to-toe hives...? First of all, no one would believe my life in story form if I even had the desire to write it, which I don't. Second, the melodrama is just too far-fetched. Third -- oh, wait; I had a point to this rant.
For one week, I'm going to post a "positive" thing that happened during each day. A good thought. A kind word. A small accomplishment. Something uplifting that stands out from the rest of the day. Then I'm going to see if the act of shifting focus has an impact on my life. I don't expect my perspective to banish the bad, but perhaps it will turn my health around. It certainly can't hurt. And if it makes the spots go away, I'll be very happy.
Let's see...today...
One thing that stands out from the day is hugging my sister, because she needed it - and the wonderful feeling that a hug from me means a lot to her and vice versa.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Totally random thoughts
Sorry - I've sort of filled this in throughout the last two days as time permitted. I think I'll leave it as is, even though it's rough and raw. Enjoy!
There's a gremlin following me around. Everything electronic that I touch is doomed to failure and I blame MySpace.
I bet you think I'm kidding.
Ever since I first created a MySpace page, I've been plagued with computer troubles. I can't visit MyPage without having MyComputer lock up. I get viruses every time I try to update the page or reply to messages. Friends and relations have no troubles with their pages, but mine is evil. I'd blast the sinister thing into the MySpace graveyard if I thought I could do it without toasting another hard drive.
So my beautiful new computer - the one I bought after MySpace burned up my last laptop - is crippled. I love my HP Pavilion Notebook PC, but I'm thinking seriously about a Mac. I am so darn sick and tired of viruses. Every time I get hit with one, I lose at least a week of writing. I can't sync my Blackberry to my PC because the software won't load. I can't load my new Zep CD on my iPod. Outlook Express freezes up on me half the time, so I shut down and restart and get the same messages over and over. I can't run a virus scan without removing and reinstalling my virus software every time. And on and on and on. It never ends!
But on to other things :)
The Emerald City Writers Conference is less than a month away. I'm so excited to be attending this conference! Last weekend, I attended my first ever GSRWA meeting and all I can say is -WOW! What a great bunch of writers! I say that not just because they've all been fun to get to know, but because there are so many productive, successful writers in the group. I find it very motivating to hear what's working for other writers, how they've persevered through the submissions process and succeeded. One writer said, "Whew! And I thought writing was hard!"
Normally, fall is a productive time of year for me. I've been going through the motions, but not getting as much done as I'd like, probably because there are some days when I still feel like I'm on autopilot. On the way to the parent/child book club today (yes, I started that up again even though I'm loaded down pretty heavy as it is) my daughter Hannah started crying about missing Grampa and I joined in. And all day Monday, I had to field the question, "How was your summer?" I totally wasn't prepared to answer that yet.
I volunteered to be the team parent for my son Sean's football team. It's a small job, but to me it's huge. Taking on anything right now is huge to me, but I have to get out there and do it. Life goes on. I also attended a PTA meeting tonight. With both parents' illnesses last year, I could never fit a PTA meeting into my schedule. This year, I want to be involved. Sean is a great student and loves going to school. My goal with Hannah this year is to teach her the self-discipline a good student needs.
There is absolutely no closure for a random post like this! LOL if this were a draft of a story, I'd wad it up and toss it in the recycle bin!
There's a gremlin following me around. Everything electronic that I touch is doomed to failure and I blame MySpace.
I bet you think I'm kidding.
Ever since I first created a MySpace page, I've been plagued with computer troubles. I can't visit MyPage without having MyComputer lock up. I get viruses every time I try to update the page or reply to messages. Friends and relations have no troubles with their pages, but mine is evil. I'd blast the sinister thing into the MySpace graveyard if I thought I could do it without toasting another hard drive.
So my beautiful new computer - the one I bought after MySpace burned up my last laptop - is crippled. I love my HP Pavilion Notebook PC, but I'm thinking seriously about a Mac. I am so darn sick and tired of viruses. Every time I get hit with one, I lose at least a week of writing. I can't sync my Blackberry to my PC because the software won't load. I can't load my new Zep CD on my iPod. Outlook Express freezes up on me half the time, so I shut down and restart and get the same messages over and over. I can't run a virus scan without removing and reinstalling my virus software every time. And on and on and on. It never ends!
But on to other things :)
The Emerald City Writers Conference is less than a month away. I'm so excited to be attending this conference! Last weekend, I attended my first ever GSRWA meeting and all I can say is -WOW! What a great bunch of writers! I say that not just because they've all been fun to get to know, but because there are so many productive, successful writers in the group. I find it very motivating to hear what's working for other writers, how they've persevered through the submissions process and succeeded. One writer said, "Whew! And I thought writing was hard!"
Normally, fall is a productive time of year for me. I've been going through the motions, but not getting as much done as I'd like, probably because there are some days when I still feel like I'm on autopilot. On the way to the parent/child book club today (yes, I started that up again even though I'm loaded down pretty heavy as it is) my daughter Hannah started crying about missing Grampa and I joined in. And all day Monday, I had to field the question, "How was your summer?" I totally wasn't prepared to answer that yet.
I volunteered to be the team parent for my son Sean's football team. It's a small job, but to me it's huge. Taking on anything right now is huge to me, but I have to get out there and do it. Life goes on. I also attended a PTA meeting tonight. With both parents' illnesses last year, I could never fit a PTA meeting into my schedule. This year, I want to be involved. Sean is a great student and loves going to school. My goal with Hannah this year is to teach her the self-discipline a good student needs.
There is absolutely no closure for a random post like this! LOL if this were a draft of a story, I'd wad it up and toss it in the recycle bin!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Goodbyes
It was bound to happen. The events of the last 5 months caught up with me and I could not figure out what to say on my blog.
I still don't know what to say. I guess I'll free-write and see what happens.
My mother Sarah died on July 14th. I flew to Mexico on the 15th. After spending the first night tossing back tequila shots in Mom's honor and waking up with a brutal headache at 4:30 in the morning, my sisters and I spent a week at Mom's house.
Her house was hollow without her there. I experienced my first intense moment of loss.
We boxed, sent, donated, signed, arranged, informed, and planned: all the things we are still in the process of doing for our father's affairs, and, sadly, still going through for my sister's husband. There are so many little things to take care of when someone dies. My brother stopped in now and again (he and his wife stayed at a hotel). We began the process of mourning together. Don't get me wrong: we had some great laughs, my sisters and I, but we all decided we're getting sick of this end-of-life business.
We don't want to be "strong" anymore.
Sisters are a blessing. As I said to a friend of mine in an email, those of us who have sisters know how truly wonderful it is to be able to love someone unconditionally. My sisters and I have had our differences but they've never marred our love for each other and seldom interfered in our relationships. In the past 5 months, we've leaned heavily upon each other. Sisters are there for each other, period.
One of the reasons I haven't posted on my blog is because I've been troubled by someone's very rude behavior during this difficult time in my life, behavior that was hurtful. Over the last week, I've asked myself many times what I should do about this person and I keep arriving at the same conclusion: let it go and move on. I don't need negativity in my life. I'm sad to see the relationship dissolve, but one thing I've learned is that my contentment is not dependent upon the actions of others; it lies within me.
With the negativity behind me, and the grieving resumed, I was finally able to get in a good chunk of writing time today.
I still don't know what to say. I guess I'll free-write and see what happens.
My mother Sarah died on July 14th. I flew to Mexico on the 15th. After spending the first night tossing back tequila shots in Mom's honor and waking up with a brutal headache at 4:30 in the morning, my sisters and I spent a week at Mom's house.
Her house was hollow without her there. I experienced my first intense moment of loss.
We boxed, sent, donated, signed, arranged, informed, and planned: all the things we are still in the process of doing for our father's affairs, and, sadly, still going through for my sister's husband. There are so many little things to take care of when someone dies. My brother stopped in now and again (he and his wife stayed at a hotel). We began the process of mourning together. Don't get me wrong: we had some great laughs, my sisters and I, but we all decided we're getting sick of this end-of-life business.
We don't want to be "strong" anymore.
Sisters are a blessing. As I said to a friend of mine in an email, those of us who have sisters know how truly wonderful it is to be able to love someone unconditionally. My sisters and I have had our differences but they've never marred our love for each other and seldom interfered in our relationships. In the past 5 months, we've leaned heavily upon each other. Sisters are there for each other, period.
One of the reasons I haven't posted on my blog is because I've been troubled by someone's very rude behavior during this difficult time in my life, behavior that was hurtful. Over the last week, I've asked myself many times what I should do about this person and I keep arriving at the same conclusion: let it go and move on. I don't need negativity in my life. I'm sad to see the relationship dissolve, but one thing I've learned is that my contentment is not dependent upon the actions of others; it lies within me.
With the negativity behind me, and the grieving resumed, I was finally able to get in a good chunk of writing time today.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
No writing today. Or yesterday.
The water pump on my van broke yesterday, which caused the car to run out of water and overheat. Thankfully, it happened close enough to home that I didn't burn up the engine. While I was contacting my mechanic, I spent 4 hours on the phone with my ISP and the manufacturer of my wireless router because we couldn't get online. According to said personnel, both our modem AND our router quit working! Limped the van over to the mechanic and while my van was being fixed, I borrowed my mechanic's car and bought a new router/modem combo, which was hard to find because I'm on DSL, not broadband. Over $100 at Best Buy, but hey, it's Internet access we're talking about here.
The new router/modem would have fixed the problem. If my keyboard for the desktop hadn't chosen that moment to die. To further aggravate matters, my debit card was declined because the equipment rental company charged me for equipment that we still have in use for our remodel and, not being able to go online, I wasn't able to transfer funds to cover it.
As soon as my son was off to school this morning, I went to Staples and bought a new keyboard and saw that the price on the router/modem combo was $20 less. I hadn't even opened the box from Best Buy yet. Plus, with my contract discount through my husband's business, I was able to buy a cordless keyboard PLUS the router/modem for $10 more than I bought just the router/modem at Best Buy. Cool beans, right?
I got it all hooked up. It worked great. Got my funds transfer done. Problem solved. Or so you would think.
And then I noticed the router/modem from Staples wasn't wireless. Grrrrr!
Got the router/modem switched out with the wireless one, then spent all day on the phone with the router manufacturer, my ISP, and the print server manufacturer. Returned the non-wireless router to Staples. Everything is up and running, but the signal is weak on the wireless, rendering it practically useless.
Comcast, here we come.
The new router/modem would have fixed the problem. If my keyboard for the desktop hadn't chosen that moment to die. To further aggravate matters, my debit card was declined because the equipment rental company charged me for equipment that we still have in use for our remodel and, not being able to go online, I wasn't able to transfer funds to cover it.
As soon as my son was off to school this morning, I went to Staples and bought a new keyboard and saw that the price on the router/modem combo was $20 less. I hadn't even opened the box from Best Buy yet. Plus, with my contract discount through my husband's business, I was able to buy a cordless keyboard PLUS the router/modem for $10 more than I bought just the router/modem at Best Buy. Cool beans, right?
I got it all hooked up. It worked great. Got my funds transfer done. Problem solved. Or so you would think.
And then I noticed the router/modem from Staples wasn't wireless. Grrrrr!
Got the router/modem switched out with the wireless one, then spent all day on the phone with the router manufacturer, my ISP, and the print server manufacturer. Returned the non-wireless router to Staples. Everything is up and running, but the signal is weak on the wireless, rendering it practically useless.
Comcast, here we come.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Things People Do
The story below is something I've been meaning to post from my pre-blog days. The kids and I talk about this story often. The lesson we learned that day was so valuable! Just today, when I found an open, shady parking spot, my daughter said, "I want that spot!" So, guess what? We left it for someone who needed it more than we did.
September 2006
Thought I'd share a recent experience. The kids and I were out on errands one day last week. It was fairly hot and we were hungry so we stopped at a deli for sandwiches. I drove the van to the far side of a parking lot - far away from the department stores and shops - and parked in the shade of the small trees lining the lot. All the parking spots along there were available because no one wanted to walk that far, in the heat, to the store and back. So I parked sideways, taking up 3 spots with my minivan, to make the best use of the shade. As I said, all the spots were open. There were at least 20 shady spots surrounding me, and a dozen more about 30 yards away across a median. We took out our sandwiches, rolled down the windows, and tried to enjoy a few minutes in our busy day. It wasn't an ideal place to eat lunch because we were parallel to a busy street, but you take what you can get, ya know?
A woman pulled up in a blue sedan and started honking. I mean, Toot-toot! Toot-toot! Toot-toot! My son looked out his open window and the lady said, "I want that spot."
I looked around, ahead of me, behind me - there was no one there. Not one car. All the spots were open and available. A car came along behind the blue sedan, went around, and then came back to park, crookedly, about ten slots behind me. I could see she was there to talk on her cell phone, drink her iced coffee, and smoke a cigarette.
The lady in the blue sedan was still there. She LAID on the horn. "Move your car!" she shouted.
I started looking for a sign that said Employee Parking Only or something to indicate that I had committed a violation. I had a deli sandwich on my lap - a messy veggie sandwich with avocado - and I had the driver's seat pushed back. Whatever the inconvenience, I thought I should move the van because obviously there was a reason. Why else would the lady be so upset? So I started the car and very carefully pulled forward far enough so that I was occupying 3 different stalls. This gave her room to pull in behind me.
She followed me and laid on the horn again.
I said to my children, "What? I thought she said she wanted that spot?"
My son said she was waving at me to pull forward. So I did. And she pulled forward. So I backed up, thinking maybe I had the wrong spot or something. The whole time I'm thinking, Why can't she take one of these other spots? Why am I moving around like this, when she could have any one of these? Where the heck does she want me to go?! There were at least 20 spots available and we played this twisted game of tag for a few minutes. I looked around thinking maybe she was meeting someone, but no, there was just that one car further down: Smoking Woman on the cell phone. If Blue Sedan was meeting Smoking Woman, then she'd pull closer to the other car, right? And no one was standing in the parking lot or on the sidewalk waiting, there wasn't a bus stop...nothing! So I pulled forward again and put the car in park and said to heck with it. She'd just have to deal.
I shut the car off and started eating my sandwich again. The lady revved the engine and pulled right up to my back bumper but didn't hit me. Next, she threw her car in revers and sped backwards at an alarming rate just as a car was coming along to get to the main road. I watched in my side mirror as they almost collided. Blue Sedan woman then pulled into one of the slots that we had been occupying when she arrived. Get this: the woman got out of her car and went to my SON'S side of the car (scary) and started to tell me off!
She said I was hogging the shade. Well, first of all, I was there first so neener-neener (I didn't say that) but my gosh, there were like 20 other shady parking spaces! All with the same amount of shade!
My response was a smile and a sweet, calm, "We're just sitting here for a few minutes to enjoy our lunch."
She said it was against the law for me to take more than one spot. Um, no, it isn't but I didn't say that. What if I had an RV? Or I was driving my husband's tool truck? Besides, the parking lot is private property and I don't believe traffic laws apply. (Are there traffic laws that state how many spots you can take up in a half-empty parking lot?) I told her there were plenty of other shady places for her to park. She said wanted to shop and she didn't want her car to be hot when she was done and I was not the only person in the world.
And she walked off.
I shook my head and laughed, and then I called my husband and told him about it. He told me all the choice things he would have said to her and pointed out that - first and foremost - he would NOT have moved the car. My husband was amazed at my attitude about the incident, that I didn't tell her off right there in the parking lot, that I wasn't sitting there thinking of what I should have said to the woman and most amazingly of all - he was amazed that I wasn't angry.
My thought about the incident was this: How pathetic of a person do you have to be to go out of your way to do that to someone? To physically antagonize and intend to intimidate? I felt pity for her. Her life must be a lot worse than mine if that's what she chose to do with her time. She was going shopping for new clothes - a privilege many don't have. Her actions were a reminder that nothing in life is so bad that you should go out of your way to try to hassle your fellow man. It was a good lesson for the kids, too. I don't know what bug crawled up her butt and made her so cranky or so violent, but her display and antagonism toward me for taking up three parking spots was so unnecessary that it was obvious she had bigger problems than needing to chew someone out. It was oddly...reassuring. Comforting. She made me see how stupid it is to get worked up about things you can't control. Her little temper tantrum had the exact opposite affect on me that she was aiming for. I was thankful that my life wasn't like hers, thankful for my wonderful husband and great friends. I hope the memory of the incident will make me think twice about my reactions, or actions, toward others.
Writers should see humanity in all its facets. Blue Sedan woman was one bizarre facet of humanity. I wonder if her day got better or worse after that?
September 2006
Thought I'd share a recent experience. The kids and I were out on errands one day last week. It was fairly hot and we were hungry so we stopped at a deli for sandwiches. I drove the van to the far side of a parking lot - far away from the department stores and shops - and parked in the shade of the small trees lining the lot. All the parking spots along there were available because no one wanted to walk that far, in the heat, to the store and back. So I parked sideways, taking up 3 spots with my minivan, to make the best use of the shade. As I said, all the spots were open. There were at least 20 shady spots surrounding me, and a dozen more about 30 yards away across a median. We took out our sandwiches, rolled down the windows, and tried to enjoy a few minutes in our busy day. It wasn't an ideal place to eat lunch because we were parallel to a busy street, but you take what you can get, ya know?
A woman pulled up in a blue sedan and started honking. I mean, Toot-toot! Toot-toot! Toot-toot! My son looked out his open window and the lady said, "I want that spot."
I looked around, ahead of me, behind me - there was no one there. Not one car. All the spots were open and available. A car came along behind the blue sedan, went around, and then came back to park, crookedly, about ten slots behind me. I could see she was there to talk on her cell phone, drink her iced coffee, and smoke a cigarette.
The lady in the blue sedan was still there. She LAID on the horn. "Move your car!" she shouted.
I started looking for a sign that said Employee Parking Only or something to indicate that I had committed a violation. I had a deli sandwich on my lap - a messy veggie sandwich with avocado - and I had the driver's seat pushed back. Whatever the inconvenience, I thought I should move the van because obviously there was a reason. Why else would the lady be so upset? So I started the car and very carefully pulled forward far enough so that I was occupying 3 different stalls. This gave her room to pull in behind me.
She followed me and laid on the horn again.
I said to my children, "What? I thought she said she wanted that spot?"
My son said she was waving at me to pull forward. So I did. And she pulled forward. So I backed up, thinking maybe I had the wrong spot or something. The whole time I'm thinking, Why can't she take one of these other spots? Why am I moving around like this, when she could have any one of these? Where the heck does she want me to go?! There were at least 20 spots available and we played this twisted game of tag for a few minutes. I looked around thinking maybe she was meeting someone, but no, there was just that one car further down: Smoking Woman on the cell phone. If Blue Sedan was meeting Smoking Woman, then she'd pull closer to the other car, right? And no one was standing in the parking lot or on the sidewalk waiting, there wasn't a bus stop...nothing! So I pulled forward again and put the car in park and said to heck with it. She'd just have to deal.
I shut the car off and started eating my sandwich again. The lady revved the engine and pulled right up to my back bumper but didn't hit me. Next, she threw her car in revers and sped backwards at an alarming rate just as a car was coming along to get to the main road. I watched in my side mirror as they almost collided. Blue Sedan woman then pulled into one of the slots that we had been occupying when she arrived. Get this: the woman got out of her car and went to my SON'S side of the car (scary) and started to tell me off!
She said I was hogging the shade. Well, first of all, I was there first so neener-neener (I didn't say that) but my gosh, there were like 20 other shady parking spaces! All with the same amount of shade!
My response was a smile and a sweet, calm, "We're just sitting here for a few minutes to enjoy our lunch."
She said it was against the law for me to take more than one spot. Um, no, it isn't but I didn't say that. What if I had an RV? Or I was driving my husband's tool truck? Besides, the parking lot is private property and I don't believe traffic laws apply. (Are there traffic laws that state how many spots you can take up in a half-empty parking lot?) I told her there were plenty of other shady places for her to park. She said wanted to shop and she didn't want her car to be hot when she was done and I was not the only person in the world.
And she walked off.
I shook my head and laughed, and then I called my husband and told him about it. He told me all the choice things he would have said to her and pointed out that - first and foremost - he would NOT have moved the car. My husband was amazed at my attitude about the incident, that I didn't tell her off right there in the parking lot, that I wasn't sitting there thinking of what I should have said to the woman and most amazingly of all - he was amazed that I wasn't angry.
My thought about the incident was this: How pathetic of a person do you have to be to go out of your way to do that to someone? To physically antagonize and intend to intimidate? I felt pity for her. Her life must be a lot worse than mine if that's what she chose to do with her time. She was going shopping for new clothes - a privilege many don't have. Her actions were a reminder that nothing in life is so bad that you should go out of your way to try to hassle your fellow man. It was a good lesson for the kids, too. I don't know what bug crawled up her butt and made her so cranky or so violent, but her display and antagonism toward me for taking up three parking spots was so unnecessary that it was obvious she had bigger problems than needing to chew someone out. It was oddly...reassuring. Comforting. She made me see how stupid it is to get worked up about things you can't control. Her little temper tantrum had the exact opposite affect on me that she was aiming for. I was thankful that my life wasn't like hers, thankful for my wonderful husband and great friends. I hope the memory of the incident will make me think twice about my reactions, or actions, toward others.
Writers should see humanity in all its facets. Blue Sedan woman was one bizarre facet of humanity. I wonder if her day got better or worse after that?
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