Sunday, October 15, 2006

Whine country

Sunday night would be a good time to write something thoughtful and inspirational, but right now I don't have anything like that in me. I waited until the last Diet Coke was gone and the last dogfood was in the dish, then I waited another two hours for the rain to stop, and then I couldn't wait any longer. I had no choice but to go to Wal-Mart.

I'd been in the store about ten minutes when I turned down one of the main aisles and heard a tiny voice calling, "Daddy!" A few steps farther on I spotted the source. A small boy, no more than two years old, was sitting in the child seat of an otherwise empty grocery cart parked between two display tables. He wasn't crying yet, but he was sounding more distressed each time he called for his daddy.

I looked around and didn't see anyone near him, so I stayed beside him for a minute. Finally, a man two aisles down stuck his head out and looked our way, then turned away and disappeared again. I kept my eye on the child as I moved down far enough to see into the aisle where the man had been. That's when I saw him laughing with an older boy, a teenager, as they looked at what appeared to be ammunition. When they saw me watching them, the man sent the boy to check on the baby.

Has this man never seen the news? Or was it just too much trouble to push the cart 12-15 feet farther to keep the baby with him? There were a lot of people in Wal-Mart tonight, but not so many in that particular area of the store. If someone had been inclined to snatch that baby, it wouldn't have been too difficult to do. What an idiot!

Now that I think about it, that whole end of the store was practically empty. I'd just been to the pet food aisle, and nobody was there either, except two teenaged employees. I heard one boy say to the other, "You'll like it back here; it's hard to get in trouble when you work back here." Isn't that at the top of everyone's job criteria list? A place where it's "hard to get in trouble"? Fool!

Later, in a crowded checkout line, a lady whirled around and screamed right into my ear, "GET BACK HERE!" Her daughter, who appeared to be a middle-schooler, wasn't more than three feet away and immediately returned to stand next to her mother. It didn't matter. The mother had plenty more to berate her about, and the rest of us in line got to listen to every word. Shrew!

When I got outside, it was raining again. As I stood in the rain and loaded groceries into my trunk, a huge pickup truck pulled up and waited behind me. I can't blame the driver for wanting my good parking spot (thank you, Mama-Too), but it irritated the heck out of me that he felt it necessary to rev his engine over and over. It was kinda scary, too, as if I were stuck somewhere in the pages of Stephen King's Christine. Jackass!

I drove home and pulled under the carport, then realized I wouldn't be able to put Butch and Kadi outside while I brought the groceries in. They don't do rain unless it's their idea. That meant I had to leave the indoor gate locked, the gate between my living room and kitchen. Which meant I'd first have to bring all the bags of groceries into the living room, so I could shut the front door, and then I could open the gate and pick up all the bags again (including two huge bags of dogfood) to move them to the kitchen. Butch and Kadi barked the entire time. Ungrateful little jerks!

I missed "The Amazing Race," and I'm so tired I've lost my appetite. I'll probably wake up hungry in the middle of the night, which means I'll be tired all day tomorrow. On Monday, the worst workday of the week.

Aren't you glad I spewed out all this venom? I wanted to post something tonight, and by golly, I did it. Now I need to stop writing and go spend some time making peace with the woman in the mirror. She's being a real bitch!

15 comments:

  1. You TOO!!! Oh my Gosh, I had a simular day today. I left the comfort of my home, on a Sunday, to go to Home Depot. Everyone was STUPID today, especially the clerk, she was a God damn bitch, and stupid to boot. (how's that for venom?) I'm sure there are people that would say "it was me and my attitude", I say BS. Velvet, take a little vacation to that cabin of yours ;)

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  2. If you've ever said something to a parent who was neglecting or berating their child, you know its an effort in futility and makes the situation worse. I have this theory, that at least taking the time to notice sends this lightening bolt to heaven and what goes around comes around for those parents. I hope you have a better day tomorrow and those dogs hug all over you tonight.

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  3. Fools, idiots, jackasses and shrews - just what one often sees at WalMart, K Mart, Dollar Stores, etc. Now why is that?

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  4. ah Velvet.... I'm sorry, but I can't help but laugh a little. These stores will tax the best of us. My father who walked very gently on this earth once returned from a Sunday afternoon trip to the store tight mouthed and closing doors with a little too much enthusiasm. This was such a novel state of affairs in my small world that I er... prevailed upon him to explain what had brought it about. Here's what I got out of him:

    I believe the ugliest humans I ever saw are in Gibson's discount store on Sunday afternoon.

    I believe those people are the very subject of this last blog entry. You ran into some of those self same folks. Aren't they awful? This next week, best go on Thursday! Come Sunday, they'll be there again.

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  5. our wal-mart visits are not so stressful. we live in a small town and usually you see several people you know.

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  6. Velvetsacks - this is a good place to get rid of that venom so you can make peace with that girl in the mirror! (Loved that expression.)And we all like to know we aren't alone in how we feel.

    The fools with the little kids are one of my biggest pet peeves. I've hunted moms down in stores to lecture them on the law and safety when they either left little ones out in the car - or alone in store aisles. My daughter, Cindra, was always telling me I was going to get shot some day!

    Hope your Monday is better than your Sunday. But, girl, it made for a good blog. LOL

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  7. Today was a better day, thank goodness, and your comments made me smile.

    Jill, that cold Diet Coke made ALL the difference this morning. I'm glad you mentioned it, too, because I'd forgotten to put it in the fridge until I read your comment.

    Schremsgems, I feel your pain, but I'm impressed that you FOUND a clerk at Home Depot -- even a stupid one. Out of all my trips to Home Depot (and there have been many), I can remember only two that were genuinely helpful. Oh, wait...one of those was at Lowe's.

    Kat, I kept my mouth shut (no guts here), but the laser beams shooting from my eyes could have made the automatic doors open and close.

    Annie, I don't know why that is. I just hope none of those people were looking at me and wondering the same thing.

    Third-cat, I loved your description of your dad: "tight-mouthed and closing doors with a little too much enthusiasm." That's exactly the way I felt last night.

    Patsy, it's probably a good thing I didn't see any people I know. If I'd had a sympathetic ear while I was in the store, I'm sure I'd have complained long enough to thaw their frozen foods.

    Jackie, I'm an equal opportunity cranky old lady. I get annoyed with the moms who are being neglectful or hateful to their kids, and I also get annoyed with the moms who let their little suckers run wild. Maybe I just feel so sorry for myself that there's no pleasing me when I have to make the dreaded Wal-Mart trip.

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  8. Well, Velvet - maybe the idiots, fools, shrews and jackasses were all crazed from sore feet. I'll bet they didn't have the comfy shoes that you did!

    But seriously, between the baby left alone and the mother publicly humiliating her daughter - grrrrr! I have no patience for people who abuse children.

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  9. Sunflower, you might be right about the bad behavior/sore feet correlation. After an hour, my feet were screaming in spite of my cushy shoes. The only difference between them and me was that I made the effort to fake civility.

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  10. Every time I see something like that I am reminded of an e mail I once received.

    A woman handed this note to a little girl and asked her to take it to her Mama.

    I see your little girl standing alone on this corner every school day at 7:50.
    Today I was close enough to her to hand her this note. Thank goodness I am not a pervert, rapist, or child molester.
    Tomorrow you may not be so lucky.

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  11. Okay, I have to hold your post's coat tails. Since I've been in one, two, three, four airports in the past 24 hours, and witnessed too many times to count - what I can only call idiotic is the people who got the message about the quart baggies holding their gels and liquids, but not the 3 oz part - and ARGUE with security, "but it's only 5 oz" or 4 or 3.5, whatever. I feel for the security folks - they don't make the rules, only enforce them. But they do take a verbal beating that the rest of us in line seem foaming at the mouth to return to the giver.

    There, steam blown off. Thanks!

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  12. Sorry you had a bad day at the zoo Velvet, such days are enough to try the patience of a saint. What is so maddening is that you can never interfere when parents behave in that way, like talking to a wall.
    I am glad you posted though, you have a great quirky humour. You made me smile.
    Hope your Monday was better.
    Sandy

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  13. 4th Sister, THAT is SCARY!!

    Janet, did you offer him any suggestions as to where he should put that cell phone?

    Duly Inspired, OH.MY.GOSH! Four airports in 24 hours? That's way worse than Wal-Mart on the stress-inducement scale. But all those people at the airport with the 4 and 5 oz. bottles? I bet I know where they bought them.

    Sandy, the main problem is that I detest shopping, so I take a negative attitude into the store with me, then look for things to justify it. Now, isn't that the silliest thing you've ever heard of?

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  14. Janet, I'm proud to be in such good company!

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  15. I'm not positive, but I checked back a little ways and I think this is the first time glassdatter has commented here. Just wanted to say welcome, Jill. I hope you'll come back.

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