Old Arab Man and Dolphins Plus 8

Wow, so this will be my first post for 2009. I guess I’m a little behind on things. What awkward encounters have I had lately? Well, I’m not really sure. I guess I haven’t had many ridiculous situations. But I have started to take a look at things around me and you bet your bottom that I have opinions about them. So here goes:

*I met a nice old Arab man in the Johnson City Airport (it’s another awkward story as to why I was there in the first place). By old I mean that he was probably in his late 60s. He owns a gift shop in the Virgin Islands. We were both waiting for our rides and he asked if he could join me while I waited. I was sitting at the end of a row of chairs and had my purse next to me, so I said yes, thinking he would follow social norms and sit one chair away from me. Oh no. Not him, he moved my purse and sat right next to me. I tried to look interested in my book and also played with my phone to show him that I didn’t want to have a conversation. He didn’t understand me at all. He invited me to visit him in the Virgin Islands, he gave me his card, it was over the top. I couldn’t figure out what on earth made him think that I was remotely interested. Finally he asked if I could watch his bags while he went to the gift shop. I was thankful for that time away from him, so I said sure. At that time, my ride arrived but I didn’t want to be too rude and leave his bags, so I waved at him in the gift shop to let him know. He came running out and gave me a hug (I was already trying to back away, but I got stuck). He then went in to kiss me! I was absolutely appalled to think that he would have got that idea from me at all. It was a struggle to just get away from his grasp and he ended up kissing me on the cheek because I couldn’t get away. To make matters worse, 3 days later, I get a phone call from him. He somehow searched my name and found my phone number. Crazy stalker. I hung up on him and haven’t heard from him since. Hopefully it will stay that way. Talk about awkward and persistent! My friends picking me up just thought it was funny. They were wrong.

*Jon and Kate Plus 8: NO ONE CARES! Your real life is more dramatic than your show. But the part that is more astounding to me is that people actually feel that it’s necessary to follow your life. How many divorces happen per year in the U.S. that do not make national headlines? Let’s keep going with this trend and stop talking about them. Not to save them the embarrassment, but save me from wanting to poke my eyes out every time it comes up in the National News. Seriously, is there nothing more important going on in the world?

*I went to a lake house this weekend. This lake house looked like they robbed a local gift shop. To say that they loved dolphins would be an understatement. This had dolphin statues, fountains, figurines, murals… you name it, and they had it in dolphin. They even build a shelf to specifically hold all their dolphin things. Now if that were all, I would think that they really liked dolphins, but they may not be certifiably insane. The thing is, they also had everything else you can imagine from a gift shop. Their refrigerator was covered in similar looking magnets with different motivational quotes on them. It looked like they just saw the wall of magnets and said “I’ll take one of each.” Their house was covered in cute little signs that said things like “Take your fond memories with you” or “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere”. I don’t think that they ever learned that “less is more” when it comes to decorating. To even add up the amount of money they may have spent on this crap is mind boggling! I didn’t get a chance to meet the couple that owned the place, but I have to assume that they would just pass out money to anyone they met because they have no issues with wasting cash.

*I’ve officially started looking for and applying for jobs. Here’s the problem: there are no positions that I want that are available. I don’t really know what to do about that. I just keep looking at job search websites on a daily basis waiting with my fingers crossed that something will appear. Not a great plan, but I don’t know what other options I really have. I’ve been debating changing the field that I am in so that I can give myself more options. It’s tempting, and I am thinking very seriously about that option. Hmmm… maybe my next post will involve some crazy interview debacle… One can only hope!