July 8, 2003

• I’m working my way through this playlist, zack1music
  praise be to jacckkoiz
  aho
  (edited to say, ahem, not calling her a ho…just, oh forget it…)

  
  

  I don’t know how to begin to describe the incident I experienced yesterday.  I suppose I could start with the thought that I haven’t had that particular feeling since a time many years ago when I knew myself to be in mortal peril.

  
  

  it was a sharp reminder to take my premonitions seriously.  just because the situation doesn’t appear to warrant caution, one needn’t throw it to the wind.

  
  

  I did, at least, heed one thought…to leave the girls at home…something I ordinarily wouldn’t do.  they love to go…anywhere…and the market is a relatively painless way to excorcize that particular need.  it’s a particularly good thing that I didn’t have a mamabear vibe going on, as I’m not sure if that would have changed my reaction for the better.

  
  

  have I ever mentioned that I have bad checkout karma?  I can pick a used car like nobody’s bidness, but woe to he who stands behind me when paying for groceries.  I have a notorious knack for picking la línea extraña… they run out of tape, or bags, or patience… cashiers say “just a moment” and dissappear for twenty minutes.

  
  

  so you’d think I’d be on the lookout, right?  no…it inures me to strangeness, and let’s face it, my life has been a succession of bizarre, if fortuitous, situations.

  
  

  so.   when the woman in front of me finished loading her groceries onto the belt, I blithely went on with what I was doing…spacing off, alternated with wondering why Reese Witherspoon would be on FOUR mag covers in one week.

  
  

  there was about two feet of empty belt space, when I reached for one of those little sticks that you put down to divide your groceries from others’…

  
  

  “IF YOU ASKED I’DA HANDED YOU ONE.”

  
  

  sounds innocuous, yes?  no.  in that split second I had the distinct impression, and the adrenaline pump that goes with it, that I had just, by a hair, avoided taking a punch to the back of my head.  you don’t know me well enough to know how I know, but trust me, I know.

  
  

  then realistic lara, the one I rarely hear from, says, just turn and look to see if she’s joking, maybe she’s joking… she was not.

  
  

  and I said nothing.  I put down the divider and looked to the woman behind me, you know, for a reality check…who turned white in the face…stood stock still…then walked away.  I started unloading my groceries.

  
  

  let me tell you something about myself, I do not…back…down.  for good or for bad, I do not back away from a fight.  but.  watching her give me an obvious top to bottom look, I knew…  I had to let it go.  I don’t know what would have happened if I had backed off, or gone forward, but I KNEW that something horrible would happen if I either ran away or showed my usual bravado.

  
  

  I’m not afraid of a fight.  I could tell you some stories that would curl your toes.  normally my projected energy is enough to ward off most comers.  something was wrong with that situation, and as she walked out of sight, I knew I’d done the right thing.

  
  

  part of me is still irked at having to let it go.  but if I hadn’t…I don’t think I’d be here to tell the tale.

  
  

  she was one chica loca.

  
  

  

  • 3:18 pm
  • 18 Comments