First of all....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!!! YAY!!!!
Now that I got that off my chest.....
I had an experience Sunday evening that made me feel like a dirty old man. Yikes.Jim and I were in the middle of the Christmas card process (I was stuffing envelopes as he was printing labels) and there was a knock at the door.
It was clearly someone with a sense of humor, since they knocked in rhythm, (shave and a haircut, two bits! - if you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it.) so I figured it was one of Jim's family members stopping by. Upon hearing the knock on the door, Scooter completely lost his mind. He started barking and came RUNNING in from the other room to see who was visiting. So now there's Scooter running around like a loon, and Jim yelling from the other room asking who it is.....it went a little like this:
(Knock on the door)
Scooter begins barking and runs into the kitchen
Jim: Is someone at the door?
John: Yup, it must be one of your family members....
(John gets up from the table, walks into the kitchen, and opens the door to reveal a young man, wearing a winter jacket, winter hat and gloves.
Scooter is still barking his face off.)
Young Stranger: Hi. I'm from CM and I'm selling raffle tickets for our winter fundraiser, would you be interested in buying a ticket?
John: How much?
Young Stranger: Five dollars.
John: OK, what can I win?
(Jim enters the kitchen)
Jim: What's going on? Who is it?
(He grabs Scooter and puts him in the crate to the left of the door.....Scooter is still barking.
It's a chaotic scene.)
Young Stranger: The top prize is 2 grand.
John: Wow, OK. - (to Scooter) - Scooter! Be quiet. (to Jim) It's someone selling raffle tickets for Catholic Memorial. - (to Young Stranger) Sure, I'll buy one (he hands the Young Stranger a 5 dollar bill)
Scooter: (as he tries to escape from the crate) Bark, bark bark, cry, cry, cry....
Young Stranger: (handing John the packet of tickets and a pen) You just have to fill out the top part.
John: Do you want to come in?
Young Stranger: Um....no thanks.
John: (realizing he just asked a complete stranger, who happens to be alone, who also happens to be a teenage boy, to come into his house) Oh....right.....ummm....of course not. Well....(as he's closing the door) I'll be right back then...one second.
Jim: Wait, what is this for?
John: (flustered) Huh? What? Oh...It's a Catholic Memorial fundraiser...it's a raffle...the top prize is two thousand dollars.
Jim: You're giving money to the Catholics?
John: Please....it's not for the church, it's for the school....the kid's walking around outside in the freezing cold going door to door... (he pauses as he heads back to the door) I can't believe I totally asked him to come in....I was just being polite, it's freezing out. (as he opens the door)
All set!!
Young Stranger: Great....did you take the bottom part?
John: Huh? Oh...yes, I have it.
Young Stranger: Excellent, thank you.
John: No problem, have a good night. (as he lets Scooter out of the crate, yelling to Jim in the other room) I can't remember the last time someone went around door to door selling stuff....so odd. I was just being polite...I can't believe I asked him to come in....I feel dirty.
I bet we won't get anymore teenagers coming by the house selling stuff!
Seriously though, I know it's not a huge deal, but I did feel kind of odd about the whole thing. I only asked him to come in because I felt weird just shutting the door in his face and leaving him standing out in the cold. Yikes...I've gone on long enough. I'm feeling dirty again.
On another note, Jim and I did a TON of Christmas shopping last night. It was very fun and not at all painful.
Besides, two excellent things came out of it.
1. We ended the night with yummy frappes at Brigham's, (I got coffee and he got chocolate) which we needed like a hole in the head....shut up, it's the holidays.
2. We saw Santa smoking a butt out in the parking lot.
I assume that he was done with his shift for the night, because when went into the mall, he wasn't in his designated 'Santa area'. It seems a little risky to me, especially since he was still in his full Santa outfit at the time. Maybe he assumed that all the 'kiddies' would be in bed at that hour (it was sometime around 8 or 8:30)? Who knows? Either way, it still seems pretty risky.
It made me laugh - and I waved to him.
Happy Tuesday everyone...have a great day!!!
3 comments:
SMOKING!!!! BAD Santa, BAD!! It should not have been allowed in his Santa get up.
Smoking santas, dirty old men...what has the world come to??
-moja
Aww... you were just being hospitable! There is nothing wrong with that. That is a funny story. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, John --
You probably were correct to err on the side of caution, but as a native Southerner, I get sad when I read something like this. You can't invite someone, ANYONE, into your home and out of severe weather for a few minutes without appearing to be Chester the Molester? I know, I know, it happens, and the kid was maybe right to be cautious, too, but it still makes me sad that we've all come to this. (Another) John in Atlanta.
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