Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Idiot Boy Scout Girl

Sometimes people just hate the very core of your being and there's nothing you can really do about it. Also, i should mention, some people are just absolutely nuts-o.

Once upon a time I was standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus. I decided to make a phone call. I understand that being around people on their cell phones can be super annoying. I try to be aware of the volume at which I speak and just to be generally a considerate person. But i also think it's ok to make a call when you're out in public. On this day, I do not think I was speaking very loudly. It was a quiet Saturday morning. The sun was shining. It was nice. I shared a laugh or two with the person on the other end of the line. Amidst this conversation, I am vaguely aware of a small commotion taking place a few feet away from me, created by a small old woman. She is grumbling to herself.. so i thought. This is not uncommon. People often gripe to themselves. But then she gets louder and one might start to become a little more alarmed. Then in her exclamation i hear words like "go stand at another bus stop..." and "you in your boy scout uniform..." and a myriad other insults & complaints. I look down to my clothes and it suddenly occurs to me she's talking about me. I'm wearing jeans, a brown t-shirt, and an olive green jacket and shoes. Now, when I make this discovery, know that I started speaking to my friend in the volume of a mouse whisper. I'm highly amused because this person's so crazy and now the crazy is directed at me.

I end my call and another friend of mine appears at the bus stop and we carry on a friendly conversation. The bus arrives and we all get on. Crazy Lady is sitting in the front of the bus and my friend and i sit in the middle, more toward the back. We continue our conversation and it's a good time. Also, I don't know why i need to defend myself but also know that my voice is very soft. It's too soft, in my opinion. It annoys me but I am what I am. So we're chatting and I see just these dagger looks being shot at us by this disgruntled woman. I conceal a smile and continue talking with my friend.

Finally after a couple minutes of this, the woman gets up and hobbles her way over to us and shouts in my face, "You want to keep it down so you don't like like as big of an IDIOT?" Ha haaa... ohhh i laugh just thinking about it. The absurdity. So I'm sitting there staring at her, eyes wide, and I say nothing. She turns around and sits back down and my friend and I share this surreal moment of crazy. I feel bad that i've offended this woman so much. She will live the rest of her life hating that "idiot boy scout girl" who had the voice of a megaphone. I just hope that one day, if I see her again, I can give her a big hug. If I can do it quietly, though.

6 comments:

Joel said...

Maybe it's like that incident in which Mary Hart's voice supposedly sent someone into convulsions. Don't be surprised if the military tries to contact you so they can harness the awesome old-lady-annoying power of your voice.

)en said...

Ha ha. Oh man... mysteriously, old ladies hate my voice. This explains so much.

Jon Scoresby said...

Hey, would you quiet down? I can hear you from here in Utah. dddrrrr.

Natalie R. said...

Wow, what a story! Maybe she had her hearing aid up too much??? Sounds like you handled it well, though, props for not yelling at her or something!

)en said...

I think blatant crazy like that is more amusing to me than anything. But yeah, i wonder about the hearing aid theory...

Brooke said...

What the?!? Okay, you know what, there are just too many crazy ladies around there. Never pay them heed, Jen. Never.