I really need to buy a car...

A recent bus ride home was not as pleasant as I would have liked it to be. I was feeling feverish from my cold, and I was nursing a very painful broken heart. Honestly, I just learned that the guy that I’ve been crushing on for as long as I could remember, is not ready to be in a relationship (he did tell me this in the beginning, but I conveniently dismissed it when I thought that we were getting closer—Yes, I know. I’m stupid!!!!). To make my bus ride even worse, a very chatty stranger planted himself right beside me.

Let me just say that I was not in the mood to be social or friendly. Not only was I congested and trembling from chills due to my hellish cold, but finding out that the months of flirting with my crush were in vain, had left me a very angry woman.

When brothaman sat down next to me, I just KNEW that he wanted to talk. He was giving me the “lets get to know each other better” stare. I immediately swung my head and gazed out the window so that he would not hypnotize me with his evil stare.

Once the bus emptied a bit, brothaman was ready for action. He introduced himself to me, and even though I was in the foulest mood imaginable, I said hello, making sure not to look him in the eye. I really didn’t want to talk! He told me his name was Rohan. He looked kind of familiar to me, but I dare not let him know that I thought that I met him before. Who knew how long that conversation would last!

I gave him my real name and I informed him that I wasn’t in the mood to chat because I was having a “REALLY BAD DAY.” He took one look at me and he deduced that it had to do with a man. I didn’t say anything—I just continued to look out the window and pray that he would stop talking.

But Rohan kept talking and insisted that I take down his phone number so that I could call him and discuss my “problems.” I told him thanks, but my girlfriends were the only people that I wanted to discuss my problems with. Yet again, I turned my attention to the window.

You’d think that brothaman would get the picture, but no! He told me that I needed to have fun this weekend and to not let my “man” stress me. He told me that if he was causing me that much stress, I didn’t need him.

Getting tired of listening to him trying to woo me and talking smack about my crush, I had to let him know that it was a bad time and that I was not in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. Much to my surprise he seemed okay with it and he backed off. Thankfully my stop was next and I pranced off the bus.

All I could think about as I exited the bus was that I really need to save some cash and buy a car!


peace & love

michelle

Kiss your mother with that mouth?

I’m not the type of girl who spews 4-letter words at the drop of a dime. Not that there is anything wrong with it, it’s just that I choose not to use them. My restraint may be due to the spanking that I received by my mom when I was 6 years old for cursing at school. Since that rather painful day, I vowed that swearing was no longer a part of my speech.

When I was in high school, my friends would always ask me why I didn’t utter obscenities like them. I felt ashamed for my goody-goody nature, so I just laughed off their bizarre question and started a new conversation. I actually felt like a freak for not swearing.

I’m grown up now and I still don’t swear (okay, sometimes in my articles I may sprinkle a few questionable words, but hey, I am only human!). Mind you, I will never tell any of my friends to refrain from swearing in front of me. Just because I don’t, does not give me the right to tell them to abstain from it as well.

However a few weeks ago, I really wanted to tell a couple of teenaged girls to stop swearing and have some common courtesy for others. This is what happened.

I was sitting on the bus, listening to my MP3 player (thank you, Christine!) when an older lady sat right beside me. I noticed that she had a very annoyed look on her face. I thought that my music was too loud, so I took off my headphones to see if it was bothering her. The older lady didn’t say anything, so I put my headphones on again. Then I noticed from the corner of my eye that her annoyed look turned into anger. I took off my MP3 player to see what the problem was.

There were 2 teenage girls sitting behind us using the foulest language ever to be heard at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. As much as it wasn’t the nicest words to hear in the morning, it didn’t completely bother me.

The older lady kept looking back at the girls to see if they would stop. They just looked at her and continued. When the older lady could not take the vulgarity anymore, she blurted out, “You have no respect” and then stormed off the bus. Unfortunately her outburst did not faze the girls as they went back to their profanity filled conversation.

I completely understand how the older passenger might have felt. I didn’t think that everyone on the bus had to hear their conversation, or have to be subjected to their language. I actually remember a time when people did not use certain words on the bus, or in any public setting, so hearing them in your face first thing in the morning can be a little off putting. This is evident with the older passenger storming off the bus.

Not to sound too prudish, but sometimes I am shocked at the way that children speak. I have witnessed many children swearing at their parents. I cannot fathom how they have the audacity to disrespect their parents in such a way. I wouldn’t even want to know what my mother would have done if I opened up my mouth and cussed her out. Let’s put it this way, the thought of disrespecting my mother would not even have entered my mind.

peace & love,

michelle