ponyfool
Well-known member
I am still in shock over this incident. Reminds me of Skyway's road rage story.
My wife was at work and the kids were at school and I just woke up from my sleep after working graveyard last night. I was hungry, but Tuesday is when my wife usually does the shopping, so there was nothing in the house (well, nothing I wanted anyway). I went to the local Safeway which is right around the corner to pick up some chips and salsa, or whatever else struck me as good.
I'm in the store, and as I walked down the isle, I noticed this lady staring at me. She didn't look familiar, so I just smiled, nodded, and kept walking.
I picked up the chips and salsa, and turned to head to the checkout. When I turned around, the same lady was standing right behind me, and I almost bumped into her. She was just standing there staring at me. I'm getting a little nervous wondering if I arrested her for DUII or maybe her husband or something, but she's an older lady, so I'm not that nervous.
I tried to be polite, so I smiled, said, "excuse me", and went around her towards the front of the store. When I get to the end of the aisle and turned, I peeked back, and she's following me, just staring. Now I'm starting to wonder if I had taken her on a mental hold or something like that because she's acting really weird, and my defenses are starting to rise.
I decide to check out the cookie aisle and she follows me, so finally, I turn to her and bluntly ask, "Can I help you with something? Do I know you?" She just stared at me for a second, then as if breaking from a trance, she says, "I am so sorry for staring, but you look just like my youngest son." Before I could say anything, she adds, "We just buried him two weeks ago."
I felt like a you-know-what for getting mad and told I was sorry. She said that she was fine because she knew that her son was saved and is with the Lord now. I didn't want to get into a religious debate with her, and honestly had no idea what to say, so I just kept saying, "I'm so sorry."
She told me there was nothing to be sorry about, but then, oddly enough, she asked if I could do her a favor. I told her I'd try. She said that although she knew where her son was, still felt this void because, even though he was sick and she knew he was dying, he never believed he'd actually die, so he never said "good-bye" to her. She told me, "I know this is going to sound really bizarre, but you look just like him. When I leave the store, would you be so kind as to say, 'Good-bye, mom?" She said it would give her a sense of closure.
Well, the request was weird, but I thought, why not? This was my opportunity to do a good deed, especially considering I was already formulating a plan of defense if she went nuts on me, it was the least I could do. We walked to the line, and I let her go ahead of me even though she had a cart full of stuff and I only had my chips and salsa. (I decided against the cookies at this point).
She talked with the clerk while she was ringing up her things while I looked at the People magazine trying to see if they had pictures of a bald Britney Spears. She loaded her two bags along with her prescriptions, and as she walked away from the register towards the door, I said, "Good-bye, mom" She smiled with tears in her eyes and said, "Bye honey" and continued out the door.
The cashier grabbed my chips and salsa, and said, "That will be $129.36". I looked at the cashier like she was crazy and said, "Excuse me?" As if I couldn't hear the first time, she repeated it, "That'll be $129.36." In about as sarcastic a tone as I could muster, I asked, "You want to explain to me how a bag of chips and salsa costs $129????"
The clerk looked at me as if was the ***** and said, "Your mother said that you were paying for her stuff too." Suddenly realizing what was going on, I said, "What??? My mother? That was NOT my mother!"
I literally dropped everything and ran out of the store, just in time to see the lady pushing her cart towards her car. I ran after her and was yelling at her
to wait a minute. When she turned around and saw me, she started to really hurry. I caught her before she was able to shut the door. She tried to start the car, but in her haste, she dropped the keys and they fell on the passenger side floor. I told her to leave the keys, she wasn't going anywhere, but she kept reaching for the them.
By this time, the store manager was coming anyway. I started causing a real scene. I told the manager I was a police officer, which caused the lady to really freak out! She tried to crawl through the car to escape out the passenger side of the car, but I was able to grab a hold of her leg. I wasn't able to get a good grip because she was big, but you can imagine the scene. I'm there with a store manager not knowing what to do, I have an almost elderly lady here freaking out, and I'm there pulling on her leg trying to prevent her from escaping.
I told the manager to call the cops, and while I waited, I just sat there pulling on her leg, just like I'm pulling yours now!
My wife was at work and the kids were at school and I just woke up from my sleep after working graveyard last night. I was hungry, but Tuesday is when my wife usually does the shopping, so there was nothing in the house (well, nothing I wanted anyway). I went to the local Safeway which is right around the corner to pick up some chips and salsa, or whatever else struck me as good.
I'm in the store, and as I walked down the isle, I noticed this lady staring at me. She didn't look familiar, so I just smiled, nodded, and kept walking.
I picked up the chips and salsa, and turned to head to the checkout. When I turned around, the same lady was standing right behind me, and I almost bumped into her. She was just standing there staring at me. I'm getting a little nervous wondering if I arrested her for DUII or maybe her husband or something, but she's an older lady, so I'm not that nervous.
I tried to be polite, so I smiled, said, "excuse me", and went around her towards the front of the store. When I get to the end of the aisle and turned, I peeked back, and she's following me, just staring. Now I'm starting to wonder if I had taken her on a mental hold or something like that because she's acting really weird, and my defenses are starting to rise.
I decide to check out the cookie aisle and she follows me, so finally, I turn to her and bluntly ask, "Can I help you with something? Do I know you?" She just stared at me for a second, then as if breaking from a trance, she says, "I am so sorry for staring, but you look just like my youngest son." Before I could say anything, she adds, "We just buried him two weeks ago."
I felt like a you-know-what for getting mad and told I was sorry. She said that she was fine because she knew that her son was saved and is with the Lord now. I didn't want to get into a religious debate with her, and honestly had no idea what to say, so I just kept saying, "I'm so sorry."
She told me there was nothing to be sorry about, but then, oddly enough, she asked if I could do her a favor. I told her I'd try. She said that although she knew where her son was, still felt this void because, even though he was sick and she knew he was dying, he never believed he'd actually die, so he never said "good-bye" to her. She told me, "I know this is going to sound really bizarre, but you look just like him. When I leave the store, would you be so kind as to say, 'Good-bye, mom?" She said it would give her a sense of closure.
Well, the request was weird, but I thought, why not? This was my opportunity to do a good deed, especially considering I was already formulating a plan of defense if she went nuts on me, it was the least I could do. We walked to the line, and I let her go ahead of me even though she had a cart full of stuff and I only had my chips and salsa. (I decided against the cookies at this point).
She talked with the clerk while she was ringing up her things while I looked at the People magazine trying to see if they had pictures of a bald Britney Spears. She loaded her two bags along with her prescriptions, and as she walked away from the register towards the door, I said, "Good-bye, mom" She smiled with tears in her eyes and said, "Bye honey" and continued out the door.
The cashier grabbed my chips and salsa, and said, "That will be $129.36". I looked at the cashier like she was crazy and said, "Excuse me?" As if I couldn't hear the first time, she repeated it, "That'll be $129.36." In about as sarcastic a tone as I could muster, I asked, "You want to explain to me how a bag of chips and salsa costs $129????"
The clerk looked at me as if was the ***** and said, "Your mother said that you were paying for her stuff too." Suddenly realizing what was going on, I said, "What??? My mother? That was NOT my mother!"
I literally dropped everything and ran out of the store, just in time to see the lady pushing her cart towards her car. I ran after her and was yelling at her
to wait a minute. When she turned around and saw me, she started to really hurry. I caught her before she was able to shut the door. She tried to start the car, but in her haste, she dropped the keys and they fell on the passenger side floor. I told her to leave the keys, she wasn't going anywhere, but she kept reaching for the them.
By this time, the store manager was coming anyway. I started causing a real scene. I told the manager I was a police officer, which caused the lady to really freak out! She tried to crawl through the car to escape out the passenger side of the car, but I was able to grab a hold of her leg. I wasn't able to get a good grip because she was big, but you can imagine the scene. I'm there with a store manager not knowing what to do, I have an almost elderly lady here freaking out, and I'm there pulling on her leg trying to prevent her from escaping.
I told the manager to call the cops, and while I waited, I just sat there pulling on her leg, just like I'm pulling yours now!
