i couldn't get them to leave
and especially she, the older one, was freaking me out.
I'm not in a good mood to begin with since I slept maybe 3 hours off and on last night and then had to wake up earlier than normal in order to have the windshield replaced in my van, which cost over $200. Mostly though i was just tired. No, mostly, actually, it was that that nice lady with tumors i mentioned in a different post was really getting on my nerves. She was like a hot blanket that i couldn't throw off. oh man i was getting pissed.
her and her daughter come to the store earlier and earlier these days. it used to be that from 5:30 to 7:00 i'd be free to read your blogs or write my own. not when they come in. the daughter who's probably about 45 is not as bad. actually, i like her quite a bit. she's very respectful of me and often offers to stop taking up my time without my indication. i've never even really minded chatting with her. but the mother, that's totally different. especially when she comes in alone now. she's constantly, extremely flirting with me but in a 'fun' way where we both know she's totally kidding. i didn't used to mind except now it's all she says to me. "hey honey, do you want me to crawl in that bed. you can get in too. heh heh" or "hey honey, do you want to sit on my lap and i'll rock you" they aren't disgusting people at all; she isn't trashy or anything but still what the fuck. over and over again she'll say shit like that. i'm doing my best to give her worse and worse responses and i'm even not responding a good bit of the time but i always say enough so that i'm not blatently rude. but she's totally unaware. she'll laugh after she says things and then say 'well at least we got a laugh out of it' does she see me laughing? i'm cowing. two times ago things were still different/normal. i even gave her a hug. but then last time she came alone. i'm hoping to do my own things, the things that keep this job in the 'i like it' bracket, from 6 - 7, but she comes in and settles in spreading her arms across the counter about a foot from where i'm sitting. almost no one else comes in the store after 6 and so i'm left with just her. my mother called and i was ticked off by my situation that i got short with her. i'm usually short with her and it was no big deal but i lengthened it a bit and luckily the lady left the counter and looked around. but once i hung up i was called to 'look at this honey' or 'isn't this pretty honey' or 'isn't this pretty honey?'
5:20 today they both came in which was a relief to just seeing her. i immediately started finding work to do. she came to the counter and leaned up against it and wanted to know every little thing about why i was doing every little thing i was doing. i'm sure the tone of this doesn't sound like it but i'm still extremely nice to them both. it's just that they demand so much that cutting it back 3/4 seems to me to be enough that they should see the signal. but the old one doesn't see or doesn't care. i nicely explained 'well, gotta lotta work to do' and commenced licking envelopes. i gave grunts as responses and barely even looked over at her but she continued with flirting especially. then as she finally starts to walk away to the call from her daughter, she says in the most simple sincere voice, 'i love you chad.' it made me sad. but not at all because of my actions or because of what i was thinking (this would require me to explain too much for this here), but because it made me think that she was beginning to resign herself to dying. it did affect me though because i resolved to be nicer to her. but that didn't last very long. she started threatening me with giving me another hug and i was just not in the mood for that at all. i finally thought they were ready to leave when they said, 'are you ready to go? yeah,' but then they came up to the counter around 6:40. she barraged me with come on after come on. her daughter could tell that i wasn't acting quite as nice as i usually do so i had to tell them about my little bit of sleep and my car repairs to ease her concerns. what could i do now anyway but wait it out. i was forced to talk and converse and she kept saying things and posing her head and smiling big. two or three times she began singing 'i see london, i see france, i see chad's underpants' also 'ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey. do you remember that one chad' 'yeah, i think everyone does pretty much. except maybe some of the younger kids,' i replied or something. ugh.
her daughter always asks me the tough questions which is why i like her, she's so honest. 'do you think we're weird?' she always asks me this. she asks this in a totally honest way, with an open face, really wanting to know the answer. i usually reply, 'kindof,' or 'a little bit,' and i use a tad of sarcasm that they may or may not pick up on. they like the way i respond and this was how the relationship started off well. but she asked me today and my way of responding was different than usual. i hesitated more and said something like, 'i'm beginning to think so' i think the daughter picked up on it. i couldn't help but feel bad for how pathetic the old lady was. it was pitiful and pathetic. however, i admire her and don't feel bad for how i feel because she's choosing to act how she wishes to act and without care for how others feel. this does lead me to care about her but doesn't mean i don't wish for her to stop bothering me. it's just like a situation with my own mother, but with her i can be rude and short because it keeps our relationship healthy. we talked about this almost exactly this morning after i unexpectedly hugged her. but with the old lady i am not allowed to be rude.
i continued to yawn and send every signal that i wanted them to leave but then the daughter would say, 'or maybe it's us, are we making you tired?' i said, 'yes, get out of here,' in my head, and said out loud and with a very convincing shrug off laugh, 'no, i've just had a bad day, i'm tired from getting no sleep.' well, whatever i said exactly, came out just fine and reassuring. i was asked personal question after personal question. then came one of my favorite comments of the night after i'd been telling them that i felt bad that the last two times they've been in that i'd been in a bad mood and had a lot of work to do. the older one noticed i was now done with my work. 'i like it when you don't have to do work hon. we came too early today didn't we. your playtime's from 6 - 7 huh. we'll have to remember that.' oh, yes, please, i hope they remember that.
6:47, she's trying to convince me to get health insurance and to apply for a different job at the post office etc. earlier she told me to stop licking the envelopes, that i should get a sponge or i'll get sick. 'i won't get sick,' i said slowly and with tried patience. she insisted on the sponge again. i looked at her and told her in a direct tone and void of humor, 'you're not my mother.'
10 till 7. i can't handle it anymore and so, daring a hug opportunity, i begin prematurely turning off the lamps and blowing out the candles. somewhat embarrassingly, i took care to not walk too close to the lady who might wish to pervade me more deeply with a topping-it-all-off hug. i feel bad about that but i got through it all with at least that minor victory. they left as i turned out the last lamp.
tell me you hate me if you want, but holy shit.
I'm not in a good mood to begin with since I slept maybe 3 hours off and on last night and then had to wake up earlier than normal in order to have the windshield replaced in my van, which cost over $200. Mostly though i was just tired. No, mostly, actually, it was that that nice lady with tumors i mentioned in a different post was really getting on my nerves. She was like a hot blanket that i couldn't throw off. oh man i was getting pissed.
her and her daughter come to the store earlier and earlier these days. it used to be that from 5:30 to 7:00 i'd be free to read your blogs or write my own. not when they come in. the daughter who's probably about 45 is not as bad. actually, i like her quite a bit. she's very respectful of me and often offers to stop taking up my time without my indication. i've never even really minded chatting with her. but the mother, that's totally different. especially when she comes in alone now. she's constantly, extremely flirting with me but in a 'fun' way where we both know she's totally kidding. i didn't used to mind except now it's all she says to me. "hey honey, do you want me to crawl in that bed. you can get in too. heh heh" or "hey honey, do you want to sit on my lap and i'll rock you" they aren't disgusting people at all; she isn't trashy or anything but still what the fuck. over and over again she'll say shit like that. i'm doing my best to give her worse and worse responses and i'm even not responding a good bit of the time but i always say enough so that i'm not blatently rude. but she's totally unaware. she'll laugh after she says things and then say 'well at least we got a laugh out of it
5:20 today they both came in which was a relief to just seeing her. i immediately started finding work to do. she came to the counter and leaned up against it and wanted to know every little thing about why i was doing every little thing i was doing. i'm sure the tone of this doesn't sound like it but i'm still extremely nice to them both. it's just that they demand so much that cutting it back 3/4 seems to me to be enough that they should see the signal. but the old one doesn't see or doesn't care. i nicely explained 'well, gotta lotta work to do' and commenced licking envelopes. i gave grunts as responses and barely even looked over at her but she continued with flirting especially. then as she finally starts to walk away to the call from her daughter, she says in the most simple sincere voice, 'i love you chad.' it made me sad. but not at all because of my actions or because of what i was thinking (this would require me to explain too much for this here), but because it made me think that she was beginning to resign herself to dying. it did affect me though because i resolved to be nicer to her. but that didn't last very long. she started threatening me with giving me another hug and i was just not in the mood for that at all. i finally thought they were ready to leave when they said, 'are you ready to go? yeah,' but then they came up to the counter around 6:40. she barraged me with come on after come on. her daughter could tell that i wasn't acting quite as nice as i usually do so i had to tell them about my little bit of sleep and my car repairs to ease her concerns. what could i do now anyway but wait it out. i was forced to talk and converse and she kept saying things and posing her head and smiling big. two or three times she began singing 'i see london, i see france, i see chad's underpants' also 'ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey. do you remember that one chad' 'yeah, i think everyone does pretty much. except maybe some of the younger kids,' i replied or something. ugh.
her daughter always asks me the tough questions which is why i like her, she's so honest. 'do you think we're weird?' she always asks me this. she asks this in a totally honest way, with an open face, really wanting to know the answer. i usually reply, 'kindof,' or 'a little bit,' and i use a tad of sarcasm that they may or may not pick up on. they like the way i respond and this was how the relationship started off well. but she asked me today and my way of responding was different than usual. i hesitated more and said something like, 'i'm beginning to think so' i think the daughter picked up on it. i couldn't help but feel bad for how pathetic the old lady was. it was pitiful and pathetic. however, i admire her and don't feel bad for how i feel because she's choosing to act how she wishes to act and without care for how others feel. this does lead me to care about her but doesn't mean i don't wish for her to stop bothering me. it's just like a situation with my own mother, but with her i can be rude and short because it keeps our relationship healthy. we talked about this almost exactly this morning after i unexpectedly hugged her. but with the old lady i am not allowed to be rude.
i continued to yawn and send every signal that i wanted them to leave but then the daughter would say, 'or maybe it's us, are we making you tired?' i said, 'yes, get out of here,' in my head, and said out loud and with a very convincing shrug off laugh, 'no, i've just had a bad day, i'm tired from getting no sleep.' well, whatever i said exactly, came out just fine and reassuring. i was asked personal question after personal question. then came one of my favorite comments of the night after i'd been telling them that i felt bad that the last two times they've been in that i'd been in a bad mood and had a lot of work to do. the older one noticed i was now done with my work. 'i like it when you don't have to do work hon. we came too early today didn't we. your playtime's from 6 - 7 huh. we'll have to remember that.' oh, yes, please, i hope they remember that.
6:47, she's trying to convince me to get health insurance and to apply for a different job at the post office etc. earlier she told me to stop licking the envelopes, that i should get a sponge or i'll get sick. 'i won't get sick,' i said slowly and with tried patience. she insisted on the sponge again. i looked at her and told her in a direct tone and void of humor, 'you're not my mother.'
10 till 7. i can't handle it anymore and so, daring a hug opportunity, i begin prematurely turning off the lamps and blowing out the candles. somewhat embarrassingly, i took care to not walk too close to the lady who might wish to pervade me more deeply with a topping-it-all-off hug. i feel bad about that but i got through it all with at least that minor victory. they left as i turned out the last lamp.
tell me you hate me if you want, but holy shit.
on a whim, chad was marco @ 7:00 PM
3 $BlogItemCommentCount$:
At 12:19 AM,
Anonymous said…
i hate it when people don't understand those subtle, and even not-so-subtle, nonverbal cues. that's my mom, right there. all the shrugs and sighs and should be obvious disinterest in the world won't get her to leave. it's horrible because people like that force you to be an asshole before they get it through their damn heads that the conversation needs to end.
that's a tough situation though: being sick makes a person more deserving of deference, but unfortunately not any more lovable... i think you've definitely shown lots of patience with the poor lady, which is nice of you.
i don't have much advice, i guess. maybe you can start hiding under the desk around 6:00?
At 11:04 AM,
chad was marco said…
you're right, the more the same people come in the more you can't stand them. i know it's my fault because i'm too nice the first or second times around. i could give you at least five people or groups of people who seem to come in and chat and expect me to follow them around because i did it the first time. i like making people feel comfortable and getting to know them real well. but, when by the second visit i realize they are nothing more than they were the first time, they have no layers, they simply want to say exactly the same things and expect me to selflessly respond with honest understanding every time, i almost want to throw up. i have this problem with relationships. i'm scared that i'm going to get bored of someone and i hate how i end up acting when i get bored like that. i get mean or at least think mean things. like, someone who's annoying me will lean over my shoulder or something reading what i'm reading and instead of continuing what i was doing i can only think of how much i hate that that person is close to me. there's little that makes me feel more disgusted than watching a middle aged lady walking around the store daintily and also aimlessly because i know she's just waiting for me to come give her attention.
and yeah, once they don't get the cues even though you know they've been obvious, i always start to think up things to say that could be the harshest and most direct way to end it all, like with one sentence. i'd turn around and finally give them some good eye contact, slowly walk towards them as they wait, expecting me to say something, and they can't wait to listen, it's what they've been waiting for, a communication, and i'd say tersely 'please leave the counter. i don't like your presence.'
my mother and aunt understand all too well. my mother told me this story last night. before she got into telling me it though she worked herself up into uncontrollable laughter at what she had done. ha. she reminds me of this short black lady who comes in the store and who i've had, actually, some very interesting conversations with. i've talked to her about murder trials, asian decorating, social anxiety, etc. my aunt, obviously, has different interests. so when this lady was in the store the other day, my aunt got caught up in a situation we've been talking about. my mother tells me that my aunt was trying very hard to get rid of the lady and was sending some very strong signals. she continuously walked away from the lady and responded with womanly 'hmms' and 'umms.' my mother told me that the lady seemed like she was on something or something or just was acting like she really needed to get things off her chest. so, my mother, getting up from the couch now to help reenact her story, tells me that she grabbed her cell phone and snuck back to the bathrooms to call the store number. my aunt walks across the store to answer the ringing phone, 'we sell your furniture,' 'do you want rid of that lady?' my aunt attempts to sound like she's on the phone with a customer because the lady has followed my aunt up to the desk and has took up stance right in front of her to await her opportunity to continue talking to my aunt. so, my mom comes from out of the bathroom and is humorously surprised to see that my aunt has not shook the lady. then, much to my mother's delight, she shows me what she did. she grabs a notebook from off an end table in our living room and proceeds to tell me that she quietly came up behind the lady, in full view of my aunt, wielding whatever item she'd grabbed at the store. she showed me with extreme slowness and exaggerration her reenactment of contorting her face into unparalleled anger and twisting her body so that the notebook nearly touched the floor and bringing it then up and over her own head in mock attack on the poor old black lady. she commenced laughing at herself in the living room when she tried to show me my aunt's semi-stoic face throughout the episode.
i did laugh. my aunt has an odd way of expressing her feelings of humor. from the funniest things to the least of things funny, she'll say 'that's funny!' and that is her way of laughing. it is very hard to tell where she's at in how funny something is. maybe she had a too chaotic way of laughing and as she's risen through the business world has had her laugh ridiculed away. but anyway, yeah, i guess it was pretty funny and i have to get ready for work here, so
At 9:24 AM,
ClickNathan said…
Well I haven't been around here in quite some time, except the other day when I came and it looked like you hadn't posted in a while and so, even though I hadn't read that post, I still didn't read it, like it was old hat, but today I got down to this one.
Phfffeeewee! Man, I love the struggle, the torment, the guilt, the shame, the inappropriate flirting. God, doesn't she know the rules?
Oh, of course not, that's why she's like that. I similarly have a deep admiration for people like that, who just do anything they feel like and say the most outlandish shit, not to get a reaction so much as that they are just completely unaware of how it affects other people. They don't give a damn for anything except what they want to be happening. And in turn they're typically very inquisitive, always prodding you for deeply personal information. In this way, these people are super-real, almost my ideal of what a person should be, being able to switch between small talk and deeper conversation like a lightswitch on a train track, but on the other hand, they can suck you down if you don't get extremely personal back with them.
"Hey, you know what, you're great and all, and you're right, 6 to 7 is my play time, and I don't mind spending 15 minutes or a half an hour of it with you every once in a great while, but think about the definition of the word my as it applies to play time. Thanks."
Obviously that's a bit harsh, but really I think that's the only solution.
Well, arsenic in their drink would work too, but in Shrek 2 when Fionna's father (the King) tried to slip her the magic potion that would have her fall in love with Prince Charming and forget all about Shrek, well, right before she drank it he felt bad and ended up taking the drink for her. It all worked out in the end, even though he became a frog (continuing the moral of the story, that ugly people deserve to marry princesses) but with you and arsenic and a horny grandlady....*shiver.*
Post a Comment
<< Click for Virus