I work at a charity shop once a week. Today we received a pile of books from someone whose titles tells a tale:
I had to go to the post office today. In front of me in the lineup was a mother with two boys, one still in a stroller and the other one about 4 years old. It was a busy day so there were lots of people and we had to stand outside for quite a while. The post office had one of those fancy automatic doors with motion detectors. When the older boy stood in front of the door and moved, it of course opened. He looked at it. Then he stood very very still. The door closed again. He snapped his fingers and the door opened. He turned around and looked at his little brother and he looked back with utter amazement. The boy turned around and snapped his fingers again. It opened again…. and again… and again… and again… until the mother rushed the boy inside.
Two little boys playing with a ball near the street, kicking the ball as high as they can, getting lots of stern looks from the people passing by.
Sara and I went our favourite Italian restaurant the other night to pick up some pizzas. There, positioned in the corner amongst the coats and umbrellas, was a new synthesizer and keyboard player serenading the customers with a selection of sad love songs. The boss comes over and asks us what we think… I try to be complimentary in my praise… the waiter then comes over and confides to us that the keyboard player is the saddest person he ever met, there’s no getting a smile out of him, he and the crew have tried everything… even putting paprika in his drink… nothing.
Peroxide blond 20-year-old/bighair dawned with red headband/diamond nose piercing/ black leather trousers/ razor pointed boots with stiletto heels/a black and silver faux leather handbag with glitter heart and “The Billion Dollar Babe Club (Buy Pink Label)” appliqué on the side/ texting her boyfriend on her red mobile phone while chewing gum.
I was in town buying myself a pair of very worm socks when a very funky dressed young lady passed by me, just smiling, in her own thoughts…. I just thought that was beautiful,that smiling young lady amongst all the grumpy grey people who just can’t accept the fact that the weather isn’t great.
A little fat girl on her way to grade school, stands by the street light waiting for the light to turn. She’s dressed in her favourite skirt and sweater. A bright ribbon holds back her dark wavy curls. A schoolmate of hers passes on the way to the bakery to pick up bread rolls for her family.
This is one of those perfect princess girls that plagues all of our childhoods. You can tell by the way she walks, by the say she swishes her hair back over her shoulders.
The one girl waves at the little princess and says a bright hello. The princess runs pass her, almost not noticing her, and then only making a response of, “You are way too early”.
I look upon this scene from my living room window and can see by the change in the girl’s posture that she’s registered it all: her outfit is wrong, her hair is wrong, she’s even wrong to want to go to school early… I want to tell her that the princess is wrong, or that she didn’t really mean to be mean, she’s just unthinking, which when you come down to it, is probably the same thing.
This story is written by Pam of the Nerd’s Eye View. Pam is a travel blogger and writes not only wonderful travel stories, but stories of all sorts. When I read the following story in her blog today, I immediately asked her if I could place it here. She kindly agreed.
I’m standing on the east gate of the larger lock. The salmon are running, they’re hurling themselves in to the air and slapping back down against the dark green water. The sun is behind the rail bridge, it’s early evening. Every time a salmon hurls its silver body out of the water my heart leaps.
A very fit gray haired gent in shorts and a red polo shirt strides across the gate behind me, then stops.
“They’re going home.” he says.
“They seem very excited about it.”
“I wonder if they know what’s waiting for them at the end of their journey.” He pauses for a minute. “The same thing that waits for me, I guess,” he says, and smiles big. I laugh at his insight. He waves, and continues striding across the gate towards his known future.
The couple in the trailer across from us have been together more than 10 years. They are very sweet to each other still… having such proximity to people, you do see ALL the moments close up.
Last night i watched them head off to the pool for an evening swim. She doesn’t know how, so floats around in the pool with a foam swimming noodle.
Not sure why, but i found it such a touching sight that he was carrying the swimming noodle for her as they meandered along the path to the pool.
I was at Longleat Safari Park and those two were resting peacefully. When I took the snap, they had both turned their head away
We are no longer on speaking terms
