Dove feathers in the President's mouth etc

[Elainemmbell at aol.com]

Foolishly imagining that my great distaste for GWB is the prevailing opinion 
among my immediate neighbors here in very left wing West Hartford, 
Connecticut (well, "very" when measured against other places in Connecticut), 

I made the mistake of answering a question honestly in public yesterday:

Went to my corner grocery, let's call it "Dave's".  When Dave is out a sweet 
little elderly lady named Joanie womans the cash register for him.  Everyone 
loves Joanie.  Some people will only shop at Dave's on the days Joanie is 
working!  She's the kind of little lady who calls everybody "darlin'" and 
"Sweetie pie" and gets away with it.

So here's long braids, long skirts, long left leaning me in a particularly 
bad humour on a bitterly cold day, buying my pitiful groceries with leftover 
change and annoyed about it coming up to Joanie's beaming smiling 
warm-weather self, surprised to hear her ask me:  "So, Hon, did you watch the 
President's speech last night?!"

Completely ignoring Joanie's nonverbal subtext, I answered her immediately, 
and vigorously:  "Yes I did, and it ruined my night.  I don't believe a word 
that man says.  I swore at my television.  I stamped my little feet.  I think 
it's criminal that such a creature is the leader of the free world."

...dead silence as she counted my payment of coins and handed me back my 
receipt.  Then she looked up at me, her usually animated face tense and cold, 
her chattery little red-lipsticked mouth startlingly tight.  "Well," says 
Joanie through her teeth, "It's a good thing we live in a country where 
people can express their own views about things (pause) and not get shot!" 
(Clearly indicating by her tone of voice that I was fortunate she hadn't a 
weapon at hand)  Realizing my faux pas, I decided to go all the way.  So I 
answered her remarks by saying, "Not yet anyway."  I don't think they'll 
carry my tab at Dave's next time.

In sum, thank you all for this environment where we can say pretty much 
anything we want and not have to bear the looks on each others' faces!  So 
much nicer than people in 3D!

Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
(860) 523-9225
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