Observations

The other day a little girl was looking at books in the front of the store.  She turned to tell her mom something and her mom wasn't there.  She was looking around but she couldn't see her mom anywhere so I asked her what her mom looked like.

"She has Lulu lemon pants," she said.

That's it.  What kind of little girl doesn't tell you what her mom's hair colour is, or what colour she's wearing?  Brand names?  Really?  But that's what she said.

She ended up finding her mom right away after that, thank goodness.  Her mom wasn't a very nice woman.  She didn't pay any attention to her little girl calling out, "Mommy!  Mommy!" at the front of the store and it's not like she couldn't hear her.

I will grant the little girl was a whiny thing, who when they got to the till asked over and over and over, "Mommy can I have a book?  Mommy can I have a book?" without even enough time for her mother to answer.  Very annoying.  When I hear a child do that I immediately assume they are spoiled and used to getting what they want.  Otherwise why would they keep asking?  But instead of giving her the standard distracted "No" answer, her mother replied with, "No.  I know, I'm a terrible mother, not buying you anything.  Not giving you what you want," complete with a knowing look to whoever was helping her at the till.  (I hate that.  It creates violent urges in me.)

Then the little girl switched tactics.  Not getting a book?  Fine.  Bookmarks are smaller, more attainable perhaps.  Her mom denied her again with the same phrases...but then she asked if we had Twilight bookmarks.  The little girl got so excited - but then the mother just bought one for herself.  She was going out of her way to buy the things the little girl wanted for herself.  There was a malicious tone to everything she did, directed towards her child.  I didn't like her one bit.  She was a mean woman who took out her meanness on her little girl because her child was small and powerless.  Those are the kind of people I want to punch in the face until they bleed.  Copiously.

And then give her little girl to someone who gives a damn and will raise her to be a healthy, functional adult.  Because this woman certainly won't.

Family Visit

I had a good weekend. Three days off in a row is always nice, nicer still when I get to see people I love. My mom came down for a few days. We had good conversations and went shopping together - we even took in a theatre show.

It was so nice to see her again. I went from living at my parents to seeing them every four months to now, where I see them every...eight months? Every year? It can be a long time in between visits now that my schedule is no longer ruled by the school semester but by work and all too infrequent holidays. If we lived closer geographically it would be different but alas, this is how life goes sometimes.

I think of my mom, moving away from her family and going years without seeing them. I don't think I could go years. Of course my family will come see me sometimes too so the onus isn't all on me to do the travelling like it was on her. That helps a lot.

The next time I see my family might be this summer. I'm going to Barkerville BC to work for five months. It's a place my family likes to visit so they'll kill two birds with one stone and I'll get to see them again. Except for my youngest brother, who is now beginning to experience the constraint of a working schedule too.

But there's always Christmas. I hope.

It's Been A While...

...but not much is going on.

I had an audition with ATP...I still work at the bookstore...oh, the french guy who gave me his number and then asked me out on a date who I then turned down but then stupidly decided might be friend material is 'still hoping' as my co-worker put it, and worse, still showing up at work to chat aka flirt when I've done everything I can think of (other than freezing him out) to show him I'm not interested...I'm preparing to go to Barkerville BC for the summer...S. opened a show tonight in another city and I really hope it went well...I'm preparing for another audition next week...my mom is coming to visit me tomorrow!

My life in one long paragraph with lots of elipses. I love elipses.

Promotion

I have keys to the book store.

That might be a bad idea.

Hopefully there are still books in there tomorrow.

Company

I got this from my brother.

A married couple was in a car when the wife turned to her husband and asked, "Would you like to stop for a coffee?"

"No, thanks," he answered truthfully. So they didn't stop.

The wife, who had indeed wanted to stop, became annoyed because she felt her preference had not been considered. The husband, seeing his wife was angry, became frustrated. Why didn't she just say what she wanted?

Unfortunately, he failed to see that his wife was asking the question not to get an instant decision, but to begin a negotiation. And the wife didn't realize that when her husband said no, he was just expressing his preference, not making a ruling. When a man and woman interpret the same interchange in such conflicting ways, it's no wonder they can find themselves leveling angry charges of selfishness and obstinacy at each other.


When I read this, I laughed out loud because it was almost verbatim a conversation S. and I had about a year ago. We figured it out within the half-hour - but it's nice to know we aren't alone in our misunderstandings!