The other day, Charlie and me were out walking Cora around the neighborhood. We passed Frank Ward’s place. He has a bigger than usual garage and works on vintage cars in his spare time. He’d just gotten a delivery of a new, old car, and there’s a couple of guys from away hanging out, coffee mugs in hand. Never seen ‘em before. The owners maybe?
Being neighborly, I say, “Hi, there.”
And Charlie goes, “Boy, that sure is beauty. Looks like it just needs a little TLC.”
Then outta the blue, one of the guys (who frankly seemed a little lit to me) looks at us and goes, “Did you know there are three types of rings: engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffer-ring? I’ve been doing that last one for 44 years!”
And his buddy laughs like he hasn’t heard this one before. He goes, “Yup, I’ve been married for 22 years. Best 5 years of my life.” All three of ‘em have a good chuckle.
What the heck? I know that kinda talk happens when it’s just the boys, but why now, why to us? Charlie and me are obviously a couple.
Couldn’t help myself, I smile sweetly and say, “If you’re aiming at being comedians, don’t quit your day jobs.”
“Ooh,” they reply. What are we in Junior High?
“Catch you later, Frank,” Charlie adds, and off we go.
I don’t know, there was something about that incident that just irritated the heck outta me.
Charlie knew it, too. “Water under the bridge, Ida” he says patting my arm. “Let it go.”
Maybe it’s all the Halloween candy I’ve been eating. After a while, you’d think that those fun-sized candy bars would lose their appeal, but I just seem to double down. Plus, they’re right there in Aisle 5 at the A&P, calling my name, day in and day out. Thank goodness Halloween is finally here. Now I just have to resist the post-holiday half-priced sales!
Then this happened yesterday. I call in two prescriptions to Walgreens. Then comes the flurry of automated messages. You’d think out here in the boonies, it would be a real person, but no. Apparently, they have one of them in stock and the other has to be ordered. Fine, no problem.
Then they follow that up with a message I’d never gotten before. The robo-voice says, “This is Walgreens on the corner of Main St. and State Rd in Mahoosuc Mills, Maine. Your prescriptions may or may not be ready.”
Huh? May or may not be ready? What am I supposed to do with that? I’m glad I stopped everything I was doing and rushed to the phone to get that valuable information.
On the flip side, we’ve been having some perfect fall weather lately. Crisp, sunny days, amazing foliage against blue skies, the smell of leaves crunching under foot. Wow! And let’s not forget fresh-picked apples, apple cider, and apple cider donuts, which are always fresh because they don’t last long enough in our house to go stale! I love fall, don’t you?
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Funky Fall Behavior