Yearly Archives: 2017

26Dec/17
Santa

Weird Things I Saw At Work….Part 4

Humor, Life, ,

presenting the Holiday Edition…

Santa

What the….

Sorry I haven’t written anything for a bit because I have been working retail and it was Christmas. But I did see some things that I thought you may enjoy. It’s been one of the weirdest holiday seasons I think I have ever worked…but then I say that every year. I also say I am not going to do this again next year…meaning work retail at Christmas…and then some how I forget how really bad it gets and do it again. We shall see if I do it again next year! But that’s not why you came here….so here for your enjoyment is my holiday edition of “weird things I saw at work”. I have quite a few because the closer it got to Christmas the more I things I saw…It got to the point that my coworkers would come over and say…”here’s one for your blog”….

I don’t even know where to start, but here goes…

1. Bottle of Gatorade in toilet – ok, I know that you need to throw things away when you are shopping…but really?? Did someone actually think they could flush that down the toilet…

2. Woman looking at phone for directions – no this one did not ask me for directions to the bathroom, the mens department, the mall, her car(yes people really ask me where they parked their car) I especially like when I’m standing behind the counter and they ask, “do you work here?” I got to the point I started saying…well that depends on what you want…anyway this woman had a map pulled up of the store and was trying to find her way out….this is not a huge store…does anyone think of just walking around a bit and looking for the door? Evidently not this woman…

3. Person with a picture on their phone – this was the thing this year, everyone had pictures of perfume and were asking me if we had this or that? But this person(man) came up and showed me a picture of the Lancome counter right beside him and asked where this was?  I thought he was joking…mistakingly… as evidently I was mistaken many times the past few weeks….thinking people couldn’t possibly be this stupid…anyway, I turned him around and pointed to the Lancome counter and said ….THERE!

4. Man asking for directions – yes, again…he asked where the bathroom was…I always ask now..womens or mens…since recently someone got angry at me for assuming they were a man when they were a woman… I told the man it was upstairs..he asked where upstairs..I told him in the corner of the mens clothing department…he looked at me and said, “where exactly”…I turned around like I had another customer because I wasn’t going to take his hand and lead him to the bathroom…

5. Coworker ends up in emergency room – my friend and coworker told me Christmas Eve morning when I came in that she had been in the emergency room until 2 am…she was showing a man perfume and bent down to get something and as she was getting up he was spraying the perfume….in the wrong direction and it went into her eye and immediately it swelled up. She is on steroids…

6. Man who needed a certain brand of perfume – now this would be fine and happens all the time..in fact I am glad when men know what brand they are looking for instead of trying to describe the bottle or scent to me….but this guy says…”do you carry perfume from Nordstrom”…again I think he must be putting me on because we are clearly not Nordstrom…I just looked at him and said I think you need to go to Nordstrom for that one. And off he went.

7. Putting a lock on one of our perfume cases – we had an issue with one of our cases losing the lock. They must be kept locked at all times. However this case had been without a lock for over a year. On the few days leading up to Christmas we take all the locks off as it would be crazy trying to get in and out of the cases constantly with locks on them. On the day before Christmas…a guy…huge guy…comes in and proceeds to put a lock on the case that didn’t have one. We could not get past him inside the counter area to wait on customers and he just kept working on it even when one of the associates told him this was not a good time to do this. Finally he finished up and left. I looked around at all the open cases and I mean all the other cases that were hanging open….that is except of course for the newly fixed case…I said and I might add a little too loud….wow, I’m so glad that we finally have a lock on that case!

8. Toddler eating cardboard – my coworker said she was talking to a woman about perfume and the lady had an 18 month old child with her in a stroller…my coworker looked down and the child was eating a huge piece of cardboard. My friend says to the woman, “oh, she shouldn’t be chewing on that it has paint on it”…to which the lady replies, “oh at least it’s keeping her quiet.” and I must say, thank goodness for that cause we have enough screaming kids in the store…

9. Guy looking for a gift for his wife – this sounds quite normal, right? I agree it was until I showed him a perfume and he took the bottle from me and sprayed it in each of his arm pits. I walked away….

10. Long haired guy looking for Rudolph – this guy comes up to my friend and I and shows us a picture on his phone. I’m thinking another perfume…no. It was a red nose…Rudolphs nose….one of those furry red noses, a huge one like people have on the front of their cars only bigger…and asked where he could find this? We both looked a each other and looked away so we wouldn’t crack up like we were ready to do and she says…maybe the Dollar Store…or somewhere, I really don’t know what store she told him cause I couldn’t look at her or stand there any longer. I wonder if he found one..

I have more but this is quite enough for today I think. It is a hard job working retail at Christmas. Most of the people I waited on were nice…they thanked me for my help and wished me a Merry Christmas…many more than in years past. Everyone was doing the “Happy Holidays” thing for a long time but this year it was Merry Christmas again. It did my heart good to hear it. I tried to keep a positive attitude when it got hectic and not let things get to me. That didn’t work every day. But it helped. That and lots of Starbucks coffee…

“Working retail at Christmas is fun….said no one ever…”

10Dec/17
the locket

The Locket

Aging, Life, ,

so much more than a piece of jewelry…

the locket

The locket…

I always wanted a locket. I asked my parents for one every year on my birthday and at Christmas. I got everything else I wanted…well almost…but never a locket. I got a beautiful gold ID bracelet when I was 5 and threw it in the trash can at my Grandma’s house. I wanted a locket. I know it wasn’t nice but I “was” only 5… My mother looked at my arm and asked me where my bracelet was…I took her hand and led her out into the kitchen and pointed in the trash can.. To say she was unhappy with me is putting it mildly. I didn’t get to wear the bracelet for awhile…”until I learned how to take care of it”…

What made me think about this is a few weeks ago a friend and I at work were talking about the days when everyone wore lockets. We both said our grandmothers had one and so did our mothers. But not me, no I never had one. I remember one birthday in particular I again asked for the yearly gift request…a locket. My mother just smiled and said we will see. Here is a picture of me at my birthday party that year…not wearing a locket. My friend sitting next to me is proudly wearing hers though. Me…I’m the one with the kind of sad look on my face…and its my party…and “I’ll cry if I want to”..

birthday party

Cheri with a locket…me with no locket…

And so this continued throughout my life…this no locket thing. Every year I would wish so hard for someone…anyone to give me a locket. And every year I would be disappointed when I didn’t get one. I would even see a woman on tv wearing one and think to myself…how can they have a locket and I still don’t…

After a while I think lockets became passe..I never saw anyone wearing one and to tell you the truth I had forgotten about my desire to have one. That is until I finally received one. As most of you who read my blog know, my son committed suicide in July of 2016. At Christmas last year my youngest daughter presented me with a gift. Everyone stood around me as I opened the gift and to my surprise…it was a beautiful locket. I loved it! I had finally got a locket. However little did I know that this was not just any locket…she had spent weeks making this one herself. I thought it was beautiful and I finally got what I had always wished for most. My locket.

As I looked at the beautiful necklace my daughter told me to open it and inside was a picture of my son. It was taken just 2 short weeks before his death. It caught me off guard. I loved it!

locket

The inside with my son’s picture..

The tears started flowing as I held the locket in my hand and wrapped my arms around my daughter. This was such a precious gift and I started to tell her how much I loved it. Before I could finish she stopped me and said, “turn it over and look at the back.” And that is when I really lost it. On the backside of the locket when I turned it over was my son’s signature…his own handwriting..I would know it anywhere. And now it is on this beautiful necklace. There was also a butterfly which he loved and always considered a sign. And now I do as well…a sign from him.

back of the locket

A butterfly and his signature….

I couldn’t believe that my daughter made this and worked on it for weeks to have it ready for me by Christmas. I couldn’t stop crying and told her it was the most beautiful thing she could ever have given me and if she never gave me another thing…this was enough…

I wear this locket every day and I think of my daughter when I look at it and give thanks for her thinking of making me such a wonderful gift. I also think of my son when I look at it and feel as if he is with me every day…there in the locket, close to my heart. Sometimes if I am having a really bad day or feeling a little sad..I get this strange feeling and I look down and the locket is flipped over to his signature…I look up to the sky and say…”Thank you Dave.”

“Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection.” ~ Pinder

Did you ever have a locket? Did you ever receive a gift that just blew you away?

25Nov/17
apron hanging on wheel

Weird Things I Saw At Work…Part 3

Humor, Life, ,

believe me its never ending….

apron hanging on wheel

and I wasn’t even in the store yet…

It is really a constant source of amusement or amazement(not sure if that’s a word) working in retail. At least where I work. People have said I should just do a weekly column about this but I don’t want you to get bored with it so I will do one every now and then…especially when I have a bunch of good ones to tell you. Here are some from the past week.

1. The apron in the picture – not sure if the person said, “the hell with this job” and hung it there as they left…or they just wanted to air it out. Believe me when I say I am grateful I work in the perfume department as a lot of people walking by really need it!

2. Man who was a little confused – a very strange man came up to the counter and asked how much the perfume was that was sitting there. He wanted to know much the bottle was by itself and how much the set was…I told him the prices. My co worker walked up and he asked her the very same question. She told him what I had just told him. He then looks at both of us and says..”Oh, ok…I need to go I’m a little high.” and off he goes. Leaving the two of us standing there looking at each other like did this really just happen?? And yes…yes it did!

3. Girl on phone – now this is not different or strange in that someone was on the phone while shopping and asking questions while trying to talk to me about perfume…this happens all the time. Sometimes I will ignore them and they look at me and say “excuse me I was asking you a question”…to which I give my standard reply…”Oh, I’m sorry I thought you were talking to the person on the phone and I was waiting until you were finished”….However in this instance what was different and strange was that she was on 2 phones at the same time…. she was texting on one and talking on the other one. I can barely talk or text on mine while shopping and she was doing all three at the same time. Is this what is known as amiphonedexterous…I just made this word up…but it should definitely be a word.

4. Question at the Clinique counter – my coworker at the Clinique counter told me this one…(my friends there now know I write about these things and give me some of their favorites to use) a customer asked her if she bought the Clinique foundation could she get the Lancome free gift???? What?

5. What happened at Starbucks? – Now I know this didn’t happen in my store but it was right outside the door at Starbucks so I can count it. I need a break every so often and go get a cup of coffee… a woman in front of me bought $37 worth of Starbucks for her and her 3 children….really?? and they were little kids…do they really know the difference between a drink at McDonalds and Starbucks…

“When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.” ~ Steven Wright

6. Strange woman – I’ve had a lot of weird people come by the perfume counter in my almost 15 years in the business….but this one was one of the weirdest. A woman walks up and is staring at the perfume in front of her. I asked if I could help her find a perfume…she responds to my question by picking up the bottle in front of her and sprays it up her crotch… then she slams it back down on the counter, looks at me with a very mean scary look and walks away. Alrighty then….

7. Weird cosmetic question – I’d like to return this $4 eyebrow sharpener…where do I go….loaded question…I said I really don’t know…I don’t work here…

8. Man looking for a particular fragrance but didn’t know the name – This happens a lot…people come up and say I don’t know the name but I know the bottle if I see it…so the guy says this to me and says I will just walk around and look for it. He comes running back up to me all excited and says, “I found it!” I said oh good, do you want it…to which he replies…”no, but I found it.” I know I always have the same look on my face when these things happen and a co worker will come over and ask…”what now?”

9. Channel 5 – people are always asking for Channel…it is very popular and all the ads on tv make it even more popular…the thing that gets me even with all the advertising is people still continue to call it…Channel 5 or just where is the Channel…I always say which Channel do you want…just to be a smart ass…but of course they don’t get it…it just gives me a tiny bit of  pleasure to say it…

10. Coconut Chanel – while we are on the Chanel channel….this happened yesterday. A customer asked for Coconut Chanel instead of Coco Chanel…sorry if you don’t think its funny….but for us who work retail….you get your laughs where you can in our world…

By the way all the computers were down in our world for most of the afternoon yesterday and we couldn’t accept credit cards…not even the store credit card…people had to pay cash….CASH! Do you even know what kind of commotion this caused and how many sales we lost? Who carries cash? Evidently not many people…

Well I must go back in there again so I have to go get ready…. here is my question for you…Have you ever worked retail…and what was the funniest or stupidest thing that you ever had happen?  And please…wish me luck today…

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra

 

 

18Nov/17
say what

10 Things You Just Don’t Want To Know…

Humor, Life,

But I’m going to tell you anyway…

say what

Say What??

I have seen and heard some weird things lately so I thought I would just put them out there for all of you. I don’t want to be the only one that has weird things going through  their mind… You may have some of your own. Things you really could have gone through your life not knowing…or at least I could have with these…

1. Finding out your relationship has ended on Facebook. This one wasn’t me but it happened to a friend. Really you couldn’t at least text them first.

2. Knowing how many people each day fly by you in their car and are texting while driving. Sometimes i see them, sometimes I don’t. It’s the ones I don’t see that scare me.

3. Finding out your husband is “seeing” your neighbor who lives up the street. Actually he was doing a little more than just “seeing” her… And yes we were married during this. Fun times….

4. Finding out your parents have sex. I was so mortified by this.. I guess I thought I was brought here by aliens, which by the way is what Mom told me… and after finding this out I almost wished it was the truth.

5. I saw online somewhere just recently that humans will eat about 8 spiders in our lifetime while we are sleeping. Not sure if it’s true or not, but don’t you think we would wake up if a spider was crawling around in our mouth… I pray to all that’s holy I would…

6. If the whole spider thing isn’t bad enough….according to the FDA there are 60 or more fragments of insects per 100 grams of chocolate. Yum! Protein in our chocolate bar. I guess that makes it healthy to eat chocolate.

7. Finding out your ex is dating your best friend. This of course did not happen to me because none of my friends could stand my ex. It did happen to a friend of mine and she was devastated. She is isn’t friends with either of them anymore.

8. This one is extra special….20% of office coffee mugs contain fecal matter. Thank goodness for Starbucks! And really how does it get in the mugs…wait….I really don’t want to know.

9. Finding out when you get home from a fun day of shopping and then dinner that you had toilet paper sticking out of your pants all day. I saw this happen today and wanted to tell the woman but thought she may get upset. I guess she was upset anyway when she got home and no one had told her.

10. And last but not least….humans shed over 600,000 particles of skin every hour…(saw this on Facebook, and if its on FB it has to be true)….one question…why am I not skinny after losing all of this skin????

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” ~ Proverb

Well evidently some times it could….What could you have done without knowing?

 

 

10Nov/17
kids

Remember When…

Aging, Life, ,

ah, yes…those were the days..or were they??

kids

Back in the day….

I ran across this photo the other day..it is one of my all time favorites of my 3 kids taken by my ex-husband. Must have been late 70’s considering their ages. But it got me to thinking….What will people of this generation do when all their photos are on their phones or computers and not in albums or hanging on the wall? There are so many things I wish we still did or had from “back in my day”…and here are a few I came up with..

Remember when TV was free – We had I think, about 8 channels and an antenna to get them. But we didn’t know any different and were happy with that. We also had such quality shows on tv back then. Now we have thousands of channels.. a very expensive bill each month….and nothing to watch.

Remember when it was free to play sports in school – at least I don’t remember paying for anything back then. I don’t remember paying for anything my kids did in school either. They just played and had fun. Sports back then weren’t  such a big deal as they are today and they didn’t have to go 4 hours from home to play their game. I also don’t remember having to buy them all the things they needed to use everyday, like pencils or tablets(and I mean paper ones). They got them at school. For free.

Remember when doctor visit costs were minimal and no insurance was needed – the doctor we went to knew us…I mean knew us…he knew everything about us and our family and we never had to remind him of something he should have known because “he” was the doctor. He was like a family member. And he cared.

Remember when we knew all of our neighbors –  And I do mean all of them. It was great. Our parents didn’t have to worry about us because someone always knew us and what we were up to. I have lived in this house for 10 years and only know the person who lives to the left of my house. Maybe if people would try to get to know their neighbors again it would help us all understand each other a little better.

Remember when people said hi to you on the street – This is kind of related to knowing our neighbors but not really. We would go to the mall or grocery store or even just walking down the street somewhere and come upon a stranger…we would smile and they would smile back and offer a greeting of some sort. Now if I smile at someone I don’t know they look at me like I have two heads. Would it really hurt you to just smile back…

Remember when families ate dinner together every night – Yes, every night…regardless who had some activity or sport we still ate together. We laughed and we all told stories about our day. We bonded for that hour or half hour or whatever amount of time we had. But we had it and we were all together…and we were better for having had it.

Remember when people weren’t checking their phones every five minutes – We could go to dinner with friends or family members and actually have an uninterrupted conversation. Wow. I know some of you didn’t know this could even happen. I know I am guilty of doing it sometimes but I try to turn it off and just enjoy the people around me. Life is short. We all need to be more present in the moments we have with the people we care about.

Remember when people dressed appropriately – People dressed professionally for work. They wore suits and the women wore dresses. Yes, I get that times have changed and these are old fashioned outdated rules. Having said that, is it appropriate to wear tennis outfits and exercise outfits to work?? And my answer to that is a big NO…unless of course you are on your way to play tennis or work out. But not at work. At the store where I work they recently relaxed their rules about what the employees could wear. Now customers ask me who works here and who can I talk to about this item I bought…they say it is hard to tell who is working here and who is on their way to the gym. I have to agree with them. There is something to be said about looking professional at your job…if you dress like you don’t care, quite possibly you don’t! And this goes for kids as well. The way they dress for school or to come to the mall is appalling…I realize this makes me sound like an old lady…well so be it. Who are these parents letting their kids go out of the house looking like they are going to the beach…tank tops(the kind I wear under things) and their tummies sticking out? I could go on and on about this one…it is all about having a little respect.

Remember when we left things unlocked – We left our cars and our doors unlocked when I was growing up. Now we have security systems in both and they still get broken into. What has changed? Why did people behave differently back then?

Remember having fallout shelters – I recently dropped my grand daughter off at school and saw a very faded “Fallout Shelter” sign on the side of the building. The school was built in 1949. It immediately took me back to the 60’s and seeing this sign everywhere. We also had drills in school where we were all huddled under our desks or out in the hall way crouched down on all fours covering our heads with our arms. Do they even do this at school anymore?

Remember when appliances and cars lasted forever – Very rare was the occasion we had to replace an appliance. They just didn’t break down. They lasted so long my parents would just get tired of them and buy an updated one. And cars…my Dad would always buy new and it would last until he was sick of it. And they didn’t always need a repair or a part fixed.  If it did, he could most times fix it himself. We didn’t have to take it in to the dealer and have them run it on some machine to have the electrical system checked out to see what the problem was. Of course he always bought an American car. He had a fit when I got a foreign one.

These are just a few I thought of. I know there are a bunch more and maybe you can think of something I didn’t and post it below in the comments. I also tend to think the music was better back then too, but that’s just me.

“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” ~ Franklin Pierce Adams (too funny and too true…I do have a bad memory these days)

03Nov/17
family

I Want Things Back The Way They Were…

Aging, Life, ,

I know it’s not possible…but I still want it!

I miss all my family members who are no longer here….

The holidays are coming…whether we want them to come or not! I see the ads on tv and the decorations going up in the stores. I used to love the holidays and now I don’t.

I had a huge family growing up. I was one of the lucky ones. My mother was one of 8 and my father was one of 5. I had so many aunts, uncles and cousins it was hard to keep track of all of them. But it was so wonderful having a large family and getting together with them to celebrate the holidays. We spent most holidays together, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day….and then Thanksgiving and Christmas was just our immediate family.

One by one over the past few years we have lost so many family members and we continue to lose them. I know this happens to every family and I know it is a part of growing older. I accept that. I don’t like it..but I accept it. What I have trouble accepting is the people I have lost due to them dying before their time and therefore changing the way we celebrate or actually not celebrate anymore.

My oldest child and I were just discussing what we would do for Thanksgiving this year. Would we go out to eat or just make something for the two of us here at the house? It’s just us now, her and I. My youngest lives over 500 miles away, and my middle child is gone. Many years ago we used to go to Mom’s and then we started going out to eat when it got to be too much for her. My youngest daughter would have it at her house in later years and then after she moved my son and daughter in law continued the tradition. Now none of those is an option.

It never really mattered where we had our gatherings…. it only mattered that we were all there. Everyone together, laughing, playing stupid games until someone peed themselves…usually my sister. And then later the men would all gather in a room with a tv and the women would be in the kitchen cleaning up the mess and having a little extra dessert. Now due to the death of my son and my daughter living in Vermont it leaves my older daughter and I… just us two. There will be no big celebration or gathering of family and friends.

family gatherings

this is the way it used to be…

It isn’t just Thanksgiving. As we talked the other night.. we realized this is “it” now. This is our new normal…or whatever “it” is. With most of the family gone and so many friends who have moved away…it’s just her and I. So what’s the answer? Can you rent a family? Maybe we should volunteer somewhere… I know we were lucky to have had the family we did, but sometimes having had that just makes it harder when you don’t… and I’m really not trying to play the “poor me”….”pity us” card. I’m just asking where does that leave us…

What do other people do? I know we can’t be the only ones that this has happened to. Maybe we should advertise in the paper… we can’t be the only two that are alone. And I know I am not alone. I have my daughter here, thank goodness. But what if I didn’t? I like spending time alone and have done it for a long time now. That isn’t what we are talking about here. I’m talking about not having my people anymore. Not having our family gatherings anymore. This is the time of the year you spend with family and we don’t have any to spend it with…living here in the area. Last year I begged my niece to have Thanksgiving at her house. I just didn’t want to be alone so close to losing my son. She did of course and we had a wonderful family time together. (and just fyi, women were in the kitchen and men in the living room with the tv..LOL)

There have been few times in the past when I wished I didn’t have to go to the family gathering. I wanted to do something different…go somewhere else….spend time with some other people for a change…just once… “What’s the big deal, they won’t even miss me if I don’t go.” This is what I thought at the time. But that’s not how it is at all. I would have been missed and it would have made a difference if i wasn’t there. I know that now… I didn’t then. Why does it take us so long to realize the value of family and the people we love? Now I get it. Now I would give anything to have those special family times back.. Just one more time!

Do you get together with your family? Do you still have a large family? Do you enjoy your times together?

“Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.” ~ Michael J Fox

 

 

 

 

26Oct/17
acorn funny face

More Weird Things I Saw At Work…

Humor, Life, ,

I could actually post one of these a day…..

acorn funny face

Smile..outside on the sidewalk…

I had so many other posts in my head for this week and couldn’t decide which one to share. I have had a long week already and needed to write something to make me smile. It seems the older we get the more things we have come up to make us wonder, what’s it all about, why do these things happen, why can’t things just be simple…why can’t we all just get along…So because I don’t have the answers to any of these questions, I just decided to post something silly again because I just can’t deal with all the other stuff…

Here are some more weird things that I saw at work..bear in mind I work at a large department store…

A 70 something year old woman still clinging to the 80’s – She was wearing leggings and leg warmers and hair teased up to there….bless her little disco dancing heart, the 80’s must have really struck a cord with her and she wasn’t about to let them go…

Guy spraying women’s perfume all over his body – He did this after I told him this was woman’s perfume he was spraying..he finished spraying and then quickly walked over to the cosmetic counter and looked in the mirror, lifted his shirt(much to our dismay) wiped his eyes with the shirt, fixed his hair and walked away.

Girl at the counter with 2 phones – She was texting on both of them at the same time. Note: I have trouble texting on one. And, really is she that important she needs two phones or is she leading a secret life she doesn’t want someone to know about??

Roll of toilet paper out on the sales floor – not sure how or why this got there…maybe someone thought they might need it and so they carried it around with them for awhile and then decided…nope I’m good and just dropped it.

roll of tp

we all need this, but seriously…

Throwing the recycling in with the other trash – I am all for recycling and was happy when we got recycling cans in each department…at least I was until the other day. The girl who cleans the store came by to empty our trash and dumped both cans(the recycling can that clearly has marked for paper and plastic only written on the side and the regular trash can) into one large trash can. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a specified recycling can, don’t you think?

Woman taking pictures on her phone of the store directory – I’m guessing she didn’t want to get lost in our small two level store…or she is coming back later to steal something wants to have the quickest get away route all planned out…

Guy walking all around the store with fingers in both ears – Now I realize sometimes the screaming kids can get to you cause believe me they get to me…but it was really quiet in the store that day so not sure why he kept his fingers in his ears the entire time he was in the store.

After the toilet paper incident, I thought.. aha, this is why – Not too long after seeing the roll of tp, I came across this on the floor…again on the sales floor not in the bathroom…I swore it was poop and called someone over to clean it up. It was mulch. In my defense it really did look like poop.

ppop or mulch

poop..or mulch..you decide

Woman breastfeeding baby at the cosmetic counter – the woman plopped down in the chair at the counter, whips out her boob and starts feeding her baby. No cover up…nothing. I’m not going to get into the rights or wrongs of this…I had 3 kids and always went into another room to feed my babies. I know some woman feel differently…but really.. at the cosmetic counter..and the cosmeticians are there trying to sell makeup….not to mention we have a perfectly good rest room with comfortable chairs a few feet away.

Mother changing her child’s clothes at perfume counter – I had just remarked to a coworker that it was “crazy day” in the store…(a few of these things happened all in one day) when a woman walks up to the perfume counter drops her bags on the counter, takes her child’s clothing off(kid is around 5 or 6) and then takes clothing out of the bag she has dumped and proceeds to put the new clothing on the kid. Again, we have a perfectly good restroom a few feet away.

You can’t make this stuff up. But that’s all for today. I have many more and like I said I could do one of these posts every week or sometimes every day. I hope you enjoyed this and maybe even got a chuckle out of it. I know I did and I sure needed it!

Am I the only person that sees stuff like this? What have you seen that made you laugh or say, “WTH” lately?

“Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.” ~ Will Rogers

17Oct/17
Class Reunion

The Class Reunion… Part 2

Aging, Life, ,

and yes, “he” was there….

Class Reunion

The Class

I enjoyed this class reunion so much..I think more than any before. The reason for this is that I realize how precious life is now and that maybe some of us won’t be here for the 55th. I might not be here for the 55th. A prayer was said at the beginning and the names of all those in the class who had passed were read aloud. I knew most of them had passed but to hear that list made me so very sad.

The day started out on a somber note and ended on a happy one. I walked in The Out of the Darkness Walk to promote suicide awareness in honor of my son in the morning. I couldn’t help the walk and the reunion were on the same day and thought I would be able to do both with no problem. I did the walk last year as well and forgot how emotional it was for me. Not a good way to start out a fun filled day with my class of 1967.

I came home from the walk exhausted both physically and mentally. I even thought about not going to the reunion. My daughter was going to my home town as well to meet her cousin and said she would take me and pick me up so that made things a bit easier for me. I wouldn’t have to drive home at 11:30 at night by myself. So I decided I would go. I had been looking forward to the reunion for quite some time and thought I just needed to make myself do it.

Now the next step was deciding what to wear…I had an outfit picked out but that didn’t give me the desired look. You know the one I talked about last week…the one where I looked 20 years younger and 30 pounds lighter…or was it the other way around?? Well nothing in my closet came even close to doing that. So I just settled on wearing what made me feel comfortable.

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” ~ Dr Seuss

Ok, I know you are all waiting to hear about the person I was hoping to avoid seeing. If you read last weeks post you know I had some trepidation about a “certain person” that I had heard was coming to this reunion. A person I hadn’t seen or heard from in 25 years. There are many reasons I was hoping to avoid seeing him…but you will have to wait for the book to come out to find out exactly what those reasons are.

A bunch of us arrived together making me feel a little more relaxed. As I walked in the door my eyes quickly scanned the room for him but I didn’t see him. I realized he wouldn’t look like he did 25 years ago but I didn’t think he was there and felt more at ease. The group I was with quickly found a table and then we all started walking around talking to everyone. I loved catching up with people I hadn’t seen in forever. There were quite a bunch of them who hadn’t been to a reunion in a long time that came to this one on Saturday night.

Dinner was served and still no sign of “him.” I couldn’t take the suspense any longer and asked one of the committee members if “he” was coming? The committee member said he had indeed paid but was not there. Maybe he wasn’t going to show…it would be so like him. I was very relieved and I know my friends were relieved for me as well. Not five minutes later, the same committee member came over and said, “I spoke to soon. He just showed up!” He also went into why he was late…a friend(a girl of course) wasn’t going to come and he talked her into coming with him. But she hadn’t paid for a ticket, so he had a brief discussion at the sign in table to get them to allow her to come in with him. But she wouldn’t eat… And quickly added that they were “just friends”…

I searched the room, but still didn’t see him…until I did..he was of course sitting with his usual group of friends. And the girl. I continued to do what I had been doing…talking to people, people from different parts of my life. Elementary school, junior high and high school. We all marveled at how social media had kept some of the group in contact. And more than a few said they liked knowing what is going on with people in our class every day even though we are miles apart.

I was surprised at the number of people who were on social media and especially the ones that said they read my blog. It is hard to know who reads it when people don’t comment on it. I was pleasantly surprised. So many telling me how much they loved it and to keep on writing. A few asked who “he” was and a few, much to my surprise, said I know who “he’ is.

Things were going along quite well, I was having a great time and thought I dodged the bullet and he wasn’t going to talk to me. Maybe someone had even told him I didn’t want him to. All of the sudden, as I was standing by our table talking to two friends… I felt an arm go around my shoulders. I didn’t need to turn around to know whose arm it was. But I did. Here is how the scenario played out..as I turned to find his face almost directly in mine…

Him: “Well Hello”

Me: “Hi”

Him: “How are you?”

Me: “Fine”

Him: “You still live in Frederick?”

Me: “No.”

Him: “Where are you living now?”

Me: “Close to PA.” (note, only time I said more than one word)

Him: “Well you look great.”

Me: “Thanks”

And with that I turned around and started talking to my friend again. I felt him take his arm off of my shoulders and walk away. That was it! The next day, I was second guessing myself. Should I have talked more to him? Should I have asked him why he did what he did and why he lied? Should I have given him the chance to explain? But then I thought to myself… I bought his story 25 years ago, would I have bought the one he would have told me Saturday night? Was he different now, had he changed? He really had a line, always has. I am a pretty good judge of character and he had me completely fooled 25 years ago. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to do that again.

I don’t know and now I guess I never will know if he has changed. I hope so. For him and his family. I do know now I made the right decision not to get into a lengthy conversation with him. I enjoyed my 50th reunion.. I didn’t let him ruin that. I couldn’t  let that happen. There were too many good people there and too many good things happening. I wanted those to be the memories I remember when I think about that night. But I also want to remember I stood up to him, I didn’t back down. I think he must know why I did what I did or he wouldn’t have given up so easily and walked away..but then again knowing him, maybe he doesn’t. And that’s ok too.

Do you go to your high school reunions? Why or why not?

“Yes, we talk to each other on Facebook… but that just isn’t good enough….you can’t hug someone on FB. And I like to hug.” ~ me

 

10Oct/17
school

The Class Reunion

Aging, Life, ,

50 years have passed…how did that happen?

school

I remember walking down the long hallway to class…

This coming Saturday is my 50th class reunion. How did this even happen? I have heard other people talking about their 50th and think to myself.. wow those guys are old….LOL..Now who’s the old person? But in all honesty, I don’t feel any older than I did back when I walked down the hall in high school. They were fun days and I enjoyed all the friends I made.Those days and the people are forever etched in my heart and mind.

I look forward to these reunions every 5 years and I didn’t even graduate with my class due to my leaving in 11th grade. Back in the 60’s you couldn’t continue to go to school after they found out you were pregnant. But I stayed in touch with my classmates and went to every single reunion we ever had. I was even on the reunion committee for awhile. The class reunions give me a chance to see people who live out of the area and even people who still live in town and I never get a chance to see.

There are so many people from my class and people I talk to that say, “I would never go to my class reunion.” I don’t get that. School wasn’t always a happy place for me, I was made fun of for various reasons and it wasn’t exactly a good time in my life when I was asked to leave due to being pregnant. I quickly found out who my friends were during that time. I can understand not going if you were bullied or mistreated, but some of the people who don’t show up were the most popular ones in school.

I really enjoy catching up with old friends, the kids I ran around with during both elementary school and high school.. some of who I have been friends with since 1st grade. Seeing them now in person after all these years will make it even more special. It is easier to stay in touch with people these days due to social media. But while seeing and talking to them on FB is awesome… I want to see them in person and be able to give them a hug. Not a virtual one…a real one. I am excited that a few friends I haven’t seen in ages are going to be at this reunion. At least they have had their pictures posted on FB so I will recognize them.

Usually I stay close to a friend who helps me remember who people are. Even with their name tags on… I still don’t remember them. My friend will give me a reminder of some sort and then that hopefully brings back some kind of a recollection of who the person is. Sometimes it doesn’t. If not, I just smile and talk to them like I know who they are. I don’t think they ever know that I don’t recognize them. At least I hope not…It’s not them..it’s me..

“A trip to nostalgia now and then is good for the spirit.” ~ Don Bartolovic

The reunions remind me of the many happy years I spent growing up in my home town. All the fun times in high school going to football games, basketball games and the ever popular school dances. Or even just walking around town and hanging out in the parking lot at the high school in the evenings. Our little town was close knit back then..people knew everyone. All the mothers knew every other mother’s kids, hence we all knew to behave around them or suffer the consequences when we got home. I remember quite a few times walking in the door and Mom waiting there to confront me about something I had done that day… and we didn’t even have cell phones or computers. All we had were “moms”…

So yes, to say I’m excited is putting it mildly. I can’t wait to see some of these people. Actually all of them..well almost all of them. There is that one person I’m not too sure about but we will see how that goes. Some of the longest friendships I have are the ones I made in school. These friends have been there for me through out my entire life.  Over 60 years. Running into some “new” old friends that I haven’t had a chance to be around in years will be amazing. Just thinking of them, and all the happy times we shared… brings a smile to my face.

I think we valued people and our friendships more back then. It seems like it to me  anyway. I know people are always talking about how many friends I have and that they don’t have many at all. Why is that? I don’t do anything special. I don’t feel like I even do enough sometimes… But I love my friends and I tell them I love them. They know they are important to me. They are “my tribe”… and I honestly don’t know where I would be without them.

I need to close now and go work on my outfit for Saturday. I might as well start trying things on since I know it will take me forever to get just the right look. You know, the one…the one that will make me look 30 years younger and 20 pounds lighter. I will be doing a follow up post after the reunion….so you all will know how it went and how seeing that “one person” went as well. Wish me luck…

Do you go to your class reunions and do you enjoy them? Do you still have friends from elementary school and high school that you stay in close touch with?

“That’s the fun of going to a high school reunion: It’s seeing people who you were close to all those years ago, and re-exploring the relationships of the past.” ~ Jon Hurwitz

 

 

03Oct/17
beach

Just Some Random Thoughts…

Aging, Life, ,

some funny, some sad and some just random…

beach

my happy place…

We all need a happy place to go to… some days we need them more than others. I try very hard  each and every day to find some good in the world. Some days it is harder than others. Today is one of those days. I wanted to write a post that was uplifting and happy. I couldn’t think of anything. And then I decided to just write what was going through my mind today…on any given day I have a lot of stuff going through my mind. I know this is hard for some of you to digest… the fact there is anything at all going on in my mind but there is. Here are a few things I am pondering today…

  1. I looked at the date and realized it was Oct 3rd. I was married on Oct 3, 1965. That was 52 years ago. Wow. How does that even happen? Of course I know how long ago it is since my oldest child is 51 and a constant reminder of how old I am. I am no longer married to that guy or any guy but thinking about that day was a sweet memory.
  2. It’s Fall and the leaves are falling off the trees. I used to love this time of year and now I don’t. The falling leaves make me sad now and the darkness in the morning and early evening do as well. I don’t know when this started, but I’m not liking the change of season.
  3. My 50th class reunion is coming up in a little over a week. Again, how does this happen? What do I wear? Who will be there? Can I lose 10 lbs before then?
  4. Thinking about the up coming class reunion brings another thought to mind…at the 25th reunion I ran into an old boyfriend and kinda sorta rekindled a high school thing we had. It didn’t turn out well. The whole “rekindling thing” turned out to be much like high school all over again. Just found out he was going to be at the 50th. It could go one of two ways. He is either going to ignore me due to the way I left things or he wants to try the whole “rekindling thing” again…I am hoping to be ignored…Note: depending on what happens.. future blog post..
  5. My youngest grandchild and I decorated for Halloween last night. He was so excited to do it. I remember all the others were too. Now he is the only one who still is.
  6. After the decorating was completed the grand asked if we could look at Amazon for things he may want for his birthday and Christmas. He wanted to put them in my shopping cart so I wouldn’t forget what he wants. My cart is now full of Legos and games.
  7. Tom Petty died last night at 66. I am 67.
  8. Face timed with the Vermont grands last night and the youngest told me he was playing the triangle in the band and some other percussion instruments…before he could even get the words out I was going to ask if he saw the new Geico commercial with the guy playing the triangle..and he said have you seen the Geico commercial…and we both started laughing. If you haven’t seen it yet, google it. Hilarious…well at least I think it is…
  9. I haven’t been to the beach…my favorite place in the world in a few months. It’s time for me to go there again. I need to smell the salty air and just breathe…

There you have it! These were just some of the things going through my mind today. I know there are only 9 and most times I post ten things..Some things you just need to keep in your head and not say them out loud…or in a blog post. And I already know I’m weird you don’t have to tell me. I will try to find something good today even as the leaves fall outside my window. I challenge everyone reading this to look for the good. You might just be amazed at how many “good things” you will find. And if you can’t find the good..be the good!

Do you have weird thoughts going through your mind too? Or is it just me…I hope not.

“Never let a day pass without looking for the good, feeling the good within you, praising, appreciating, blessing and being grateful. Make it your life commitment and you will stand in utter awe of what happens in your life.” ~ Rhonda Byrne