Uncertainty & Smiles
So last week at work I returned from my two day Thanksgiving break to find the day room smothered in Christmas decorations. There was one lone driver sitting in the day room when I arrived. I went to the dispatchers office, checked in and then made my way into the day room for a minute to get my things in order before heading out to the bus when I commented on the decorations.
"Looks nice, but I wonder if they plan on adding any Hanukkah decorations?"
The other driver looked up at me over the brim of his glasses, pulling his nose out of his newspaper long enough to say, "I never too you for a Jew, a Nazi maybe, but not a Jew."
I was too shocked to come back with anything clever. All I said, after a long awkward pause was... "Who me? Really?"
And then I exited the building. I really am still not sure how to take it. Compliment? Insult? or was he just trying to be funny?
My husband thinks it was his way of just making a joke. I tend to think it's a bad joke, even though now, days after the fact I can and have laughed about it.
BTW I'm not Jewish, but I'm also not a Nazi. And while I'm wholeheartedly NOT politically correct, it still kinda bothers me.
Sure I'm probably over thinking the quirky off color comment from a fellow driver. But that's how I roll. I have to wonder, as I soak in the vat of my soupy low self esteem issues, if maybe his "funny" was really a reflection of how my coworkers see me.
But then again... I do hate people. And these people out here make me insane.....
Anywho. So beyond that there are a couple of other things I am gonna comment on before I head to bed.
I ran a special charter on Black Friday, wherein I drove a trolley around in circles at a local strip mall. The charter was free for the riding to anyone who wanted to catch a lift. It was 12.5 hours straight, with only a half hour allotted for lunch.
Lucky for me it was an absolutely lovely day, filled with sunshine. I only ended up hauling around 32 passengers ALL DAY long, and most of those were repeat customers going from one plaza to the next. So really I only had like 18-20 passengers, the rest were repeats.
Anywho, while I was trying to avoid boredom I found myself experiencing a few things I just have to share. So here goes...
I was sitting at one of the designated trolley stops in front of a fairly busy shopping plaza when I noticed a morbidly obese family crossing the parking lot headed towards their car. It was father, mother and son. The son had to be between 12-15 year old based on his size, but then he was pushing 200 lbs or better so age is really hard to determine. He was trailing along behind his parents who were both busy talking on cell phones.
I was struck when I saw the son kinda slip a little further back as his attention was drawn to a bag of fast food that was ground into the pavement of the parking lot. It was almost as if he were considering stopping to get it, as in consume it. I watched appalled as he stopped right at the obviously well trodden probably days old food on the ground, kinda leaned down and regarded it like it was a puppy that had just been ran over. Then with what seemed like massive amounts of hesitation and trepidation about leaving it behind he finally peeled his eyes away and started trying to catch up with good ol' mom and dad.
The whole episode just scares me a bit. Actually it scares me a lot. Obesity is a real issue and while great efforts are being made to help people LOSE weight, there needs to be some serious consideration for teaching children at a very young age not to fall into the habits that create the situation of obesity.
The fact that that kid looked at that smashed up food in a way I can really only describe as "lovingly" is clear proof that there needs to be HUGE changes in the way we related to and regard food.
I'm a person struggling with weight issues and I know what a struggle it is to separate food from feelings when you've lived you whole life seeing food as a "friend". I just hope I can really get a good grasp on how to teach my future children that food is for sustenance not comfort.
Another thing I experienced on my day long trolley ride was the generosity of a child. I was making my rounds when I pulled up to a stop and had people actually waiting for me. As I said, the customers were few and certainly far between. Most often I made three rounds before I picked anyone up again. So I was pleased to see people waiting. There was a mother and her young son and a family of four. The family of four boarded first and made their way to the rear of the trolley. The mother then assisted her son onto the trolley, he was a bit clumsy with his hands full of goodies.
I was startled when I turned my head to make sure everyone was on board that wanted to be (and that they were all seated) to find the young man standing nearly right beside me with a huge smile on his face.
"Here you go Miss Bus Driver, this is for you!" he said excitedly.
"Oh why thank you very much, " said as I took the package he was holding out for me. I opened the bag and was delighted to find a small potted Poinsettia inside.
I pulled it out and held it up, turning it this way and that while watching his expression as I 'examined it'. His smile grew ten times, he was so proud of himself.
"It's very beautiful and it will look great right here in the front window, where I can see it all day long." I said to him, returning his beaming smile with a smile of my own. "Thank you so much."
"He said inside the store that he wanted to buy a present for someone he didn't know today, he's a special little man, this one." said his mother as she shuffled him back towards the seat she'd chosen for them.
It really made my day. He was so proud of himself and he really made me feel quite special. I enjoyed seeing that Poinsettia all day long. A few people commented on how lovely it was and I explained how I came to have it. It seemed to spread smiles for miles.
"Looks nice, but I wonder if they plan on adding any Hanukkah decorations?"
The other driver looked up at me over the brim of his glasses, pulling his nose out of his newspaper long enough to say, "I never too you for a Jew, a Nazi maybe, but not a Jew."
I was too shocked to come back with anything clever. All I said, after a long awkward pause was... "Who me? Really?"
And then I exited the building. I really am still not sure how to take it. Compliment? Insult? or was he just trying to be funny?
My husband thinks it was his way of just making a joke. I tend to think it's a bad joke, even though now, days after the fact I can and have laughed about it.
BTW I'm not Jewish, but I'm also not a Nazi. And while I'm wholeheartedly NOT politically correct, it still kinda bothers me.
Sure I'm probably over thinking the quirky off color comment from a fellow driver. But that's how I roll. I have to wonder, as I soak in the vat of my soupy low self esteem issues, if maybe his "funny" was really a reflection of how my coworkers see me.
But then again... I do hate people. And these people out here make me insane.....
Anywho. So beyond that there are a couple of other things I am gonna comment on before I head to bed.
I ran a special charter on Black Friday, wherein I drove a trolley around in circles at a local strip mall. The charter was free for the riding to anyone who wanted to catch a lift. It was 12.5 hours straight, with only a half hour allotted for lunch.
Lucky for me it was an absolutely lovely day, filled with sunshine. I only ended up hauling around 32 passengers ALL DAY long, and most of those were repeat customers going from one plaza to the next. So really I only had like 18-20 passengers, the rest were repeats.
Anywho, while I was trying to avoid boredom I found myself experiencing a few things I just have to share. So here goes...
I was sitting at one of the designated trolley stops in front of a fairly busy shopping plaza when I noticed a morbidly obese family crossing the parking lot headed towards their car. It was father, mother and son. The son had to be between 12-15 year old based on his size, but then he was pushing 200 lbs or better so age is really hard to determine. He was trailing along behind his parents who were both busy talking on cell phones.
I was struck when I saw the son kinda slip a little further back as his attention was drawn to a bag of fast food that was ground into the pavement of the parking lot. It was almost as if he were considering stopping to get it, as in consume it. I watched appalled as he stopped right at the obviously well trodden probably days old food on the ground, kinda leaned down and regarded it like it was a puppy that had just been ran over. Then with what seemed like massive amounts of hesitation and trepidation about leaving it behind he finally peeled his eyes away and started trying to catch up with good ol' mom and dad.
The whole episode just scares me a bit. Actually it scares me a lot. Obesity is a real issue and while great efforts are being made to help people LOSE weight, there needs to be some serious consideration for teaching children at a very young age not to fall into the habits that create the situation of obesity.
The fact that that kid looked at that smashed up food in a way I can really only describe as "lovingly" is clear proof that there needs to be HUGE changes in the way we related to and regard food.
I'm a person struggling with weight issues and I know what a struggle it is to separate food from feelings when you've lived you whole life seeing food as a "friend". I just hope I can really get a good grasp on how to teach my future children that food is for sustenance not comfort.
Another thing I experienced on my day long trolley ride was the generosity of a child. I was making my rounds when I pulled up to a stop and had people actually waiting for me. As I said, the customers were few and certainly far between. Most often I made three rounds before I picked anyone up again. So I was pleased to see people waiting. There was a mother and her young son and a family of four. The family of four boarded first and made their way to the rear of the trolley. The mother then assisted her son onto the trolley, he was a bit clumsy with his hands full of goodies.
I was startled when I turned my head to make sure everyone was on board that wanted to be (and that they were all seated) to find the young man standing nearly right beside me with a huge smile on his face.
"Here you go Miss Bus Driver, this is for you!" he said excitedly.
"Oh why thank you very much, " said as I took the package he was holding out for me. I opened the bag and was delighted to find a small potted Poinsettia inside.
I pulled it out and held it up, turning it this way and that while watching his expression as I 'examined it'. His smile grew ten times, he was so proud of himself.
"It's very beautiful and it will look great right here in the front window, where I can see it all day long." I said to him, returning his beaming smile with a smile of my own. "Thank you so much."
"He said inside the store that he wanted to buy a present for someone he didn't know today, he's a special little man, this one." said his mother as she shuffled him back towards the seat she'd chosen for them.
It really made my day. He was so proud of himself and he really made me feel quite special. I enjoyed seeing that Poinsettia all day long. A few people commented on how lovely it was and I explained how I came to have it. It seemed to spread smiles for miles.
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