Archive for October, 2005

but then again…

Published by
julie
at October 23, 2005 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

about 2 hours after i wrote my last blog, i felt a mild but undeniable sense of conviction. otherwise known as shame. as in, perhaps i should concentrate on writing about all the good things i encounter instead of the bad. after all, what kind of loser writes consistently negative, whiny blogs? (see - already the negativity.)

as i stare at this temporarily blank word document, i must admit am fighting the urge to write about all the cool people from Lost. once again i have to remind myself that they are characters in a television show and not my real friends. except for john locke. i am pretty sure he is real. and that we have some sort of connection. papa?

but on to real people. real people smile at you on the street for no particular reason. that helps a lot when one is new to a city. thanks, guys. as for those of you who don’t smile back at me, for most days of the month i am going to assume that you are shy, and not take it personally. and i am going to keep smiling because i need to.

the other day, i was overwhelmed in a huge asian market, with everything written in a foreign language. i want to send a shout out to the woman who asked me if i had any questions then took me to another aisle to show me her favorite brand of soba. she didn’t even work there. what kindness. and the three people who stopped to help me when i found a cat in the middle of the road. sorry i was too upset to tell you that you rule.

remember that character from ally mcbeal who smiled at everyone, as part of some kind of therapy? that will be me. i started today as i served as a “greeter” at church. its very important to look every single person who walks through that door with a smile. it might be the kindest anyone has been to them all day.

that is a lot of smiling. and i just remembered that smiling gives you laugh lines. maybe i will wink instead. i will not be defeated.

people are strange when you’re a stranger

Published by
julie
at October 18, 2005 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

it happened to me twice in one month. twice i have walked in on someone in a public bathroom. um…i am pretty sure that this is why there are locks on the bathroom doors located in most popular restaurants and airplanes.

two weekends ago i had two long days of training in preparation for being a mentor to a child of an incarcerated parent. why is there always at least one of those people in every group? (note: there were three) the first thing this guy did when walked in late to class was to interrupt the instructor and ask how he could avoid being accused of being a pedophile if he became a mentor. and, believe it or not, he just got worse from there. as if there is anywhere to go from the depths of “pedophile”.

this past weekend, i got an unexpected first visit from a neighbor down the street. and he was not bearing freshly baked cookies.i was standing in our kitchen talking to fond portland friends gia and drew when i noticed said neighbor walking up our steps in a very determined manner. when i saw the look on his face, i immediately had a mini-panic attack. he looked like the bearer of some seriously tragic news. was there a terrorist attack in our alley? alien invasion? mass suicide? 10 car pile up? famine? torture? earthquake? plague? nope. worse. worse news than anyone could have imagined.

it seems that fond portland friends had actually PARKED THEIR CAR IN FRONT OF HIS HOUSE…blocking his driveway, you ask? on top of his well manicured lawn? on top of his wife? dog? nope. simply in front of his house where…um…i guess he had to…uhh…LOOK at it? he pointed his finger at me and said at least twice “park in front of your OWN house.”

seriously. people like this do actually exist out there. i have seen them with my own confused and horrified eyes.

be alert, my friends. and be sure to watch where you park your car because, apparently, some homeowners also hold the deed to the public streets in front of their houses. i wish someone had told me earlier. hard lesson to learn. thanks for enlightening me, psycho neighbor guy named mike. have a good one.

why people hate (me); #1 in what might prove to be a series without end

Published by
julie
at October 15, 2005 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

the past few days i have been thinking about people who have hated me. i wish i could say that it has been refreshing, but its actually been kind of unnerving.

this morning i woke up thinking about the time my friend susan and i were lunching in some small castle town in the loire valley, france. there was this french family of four seated practically on top of us who obviously hated young american girls. the entire time we were there they worked hard to make it obvious we were not welcomed: first the son would look us over with a scowl on his face then loudly say something french to everyone at his table and they would all look over at us and laugh in our faces. then it was the daughter’s turn. then mom. then dad. and repeat.

it was pretty demoralizing. and once again i questioned why i studied spanish instead of french in college.

we were appalled and confused by the heaping dish of loathing that was being served up at the next table. the weird thing is that they all kept looking us straight in the eyes. like they wanted to club us to death with their incredibly fresh baguettes. or douse us with a fine french bordeaux then set us on fire.

since this was before bush was messing things up for us, i cant blame it on him. they just hated us. i have never been treated like that in my life, so i guess its why, 6 years later, i still think about it periodically. and it still makes my blood boil. when i play it over in my head, i imagine i had done one of the following:

1. pushed all the food, dishes, etc off their table with a dramatic sweep on my forearm and stormed out of the restaurant to the thunder of applause.

2. say to them “are you a family of demons?” again, key thundering applause.

3. make a brief but effective speech (with an interpreter, natch) about how those parents are doing society a great disservice by teaching their children to hate people who are different (and cuter) then they. the kids, in turn, would produce even more hateful people and the cycle would repeat and repeat until we have an entire world full of bitter asses. said speech would also end in a shower of applause from everyone present, including the parents, who might even shed a tear or two and/or thank me for leading them to the light.

i thought i might be released from the recurring memories if i wrote about it. or see something i had done to provoke the hatred. but i am pretty sure i am 100% completely innocent in this case. i’m not so sure about that susan girl, though.