Skip to main content

Sharing the road with a punk

OK, I do have something to say this evening. An event in my everyday--I had pulled up to a stop sign in my marginally buecolic (spell?) small town in Ohio. Sun was shining, breeze was reshreshing through the open minivan/stationwagon/suv vehicle (I drive a Chrystler Pacifica--what the heck is that?) Anyway, beside me in my reverie I am forced to share the road with a punk with all windows lowered and a sad excuse for music blaring from his bad speaker system. I mean BLARING. I had had a little disturbance earlier with some work frustration, and I was in no mood for listening to someone else's lack of taste. So, uncharacteristic of my "live and let live" policy, I hollered at the guy--HEY--I said as loud as my mommy voice could holler--and it can travel, believe me. He didn't flinch. So I waved my arms and hollered again--HEY. I believed I was speaking for everyone else at the red light. Still, no flinching. Light turned green, traffic flowed accordingly, and the punk was out of reach. That was the end of that. No satisfaction for the frustrated Pacifica-driving, harried woman who prefers Haydn's horn concertos to what's-his-name-with-no-sense-of beauty-or-quality-of-life.

Live and let live, I say, unless I'm accausted by senseless banging sounds.

Warning to any who might read my meandering writings--I have trouble spelling on the spot.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...