Today was one of those days that ran the emotional gamut. The Good. The Bad. and The Ugly. What was a great work day (as all my workdays since coming to The Left Coast have so far been) ended on a sour note. Suffice it to say, I have a real problem with selfish people who only think from their own perspective and cannot fathom things not going their way. However, that is a topic of conversation for another day…
After work, I drove across the street to Mollie Stone for groceries. My initial intent of just buying lemons unintentionally turned into my pocket $50 lighter. Afterwards, I walked back to my car, just getting in, and about to text a friend when a rather unattractive woman with no teeth came up to me crying. Rolling down the windows, I asked her if everything was ok. Admittedly, my Spidey-sense was tingling; and as bad as it may sound I profiled her upon sight. She cried that she had no money to feed her kids. I shared I didn’t have any money on me (truth) but I did have food. She asked what I had, to which I said, “most of it is fresh and you’d need to cook it.” (I had tons of veggies and chicken which I was going to turn into a South Indian chicken curry the way my mom always made it – yummy, but I digress). She confessed she doesn’t cook. Undaunted, I then offered her a bottle of pre-made gumbo (my $12.99 impulse buy that I had intended to cook with the scrumptious chicken chorizo and basil chicken sausage). She took it, making a motion to leave only to stop in her tracks after reading the directions, said to me that she would need to add meat. And she wasn’t going to do that. Reaching into my bag of tricks, pushing forward, I responded, “well I do have a sweet tooth. You can have my red velvet cupcakes” (unquestionably my prized possession in the bag). Taken aback and (possibly) feigning contempt, she replied, “Cupcakes!?!! I wouldn’t feed my children cupcakes! What are you thinking!” Then stormed away with an admonishing look on her face directed at me…
I hate to say this but I think she just wanted some money to get drunk. And it’s safe to assume she had no intention of feeding her kids, if any in fact existed outside of her mind. Let’s face it, if anyone’s going to be drinking with my money, it’s me and anyone i want to buy drinks for…
I drove away shaking my head. A dark cloud followed me all the way home thinking here I was genuinely trying to help. Generally speaking, I am slow to anger, unless I feel that I am being taken advantage of; and even then, I tend to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Doubt was nowhere to be find with this interaction.
Later in the evening, I would reward myself with taking a video of Taylor, taking him out for a walk, running the trails by myself, cooking myself dinner, texting someone who’s becoming a dear friend, and now blogging…
What would you have done? Should I have handled this differently? Inquiring minds want to know!
Secret of My SucCecil 