Traveling Strangers

When I was a little girl I would look out the windows of the car as one of my parents would drive. I loved to count the lines on the road or play silly car games with my younger brother. Bug was our favorites. You would yell "bug" as quick as you could whenever you would see a Voltzwagon Beetle and the person with the most at the end of the trip wins. I loved beating him. While looking out the windows I would not only see the normal scenery ,but also the first clue some people are not as well off as my family. We were the typical average middle class family. Mostly it would be men standing on the side of the road with a sign or a thumb in the air. I did ask about them like any child does. Then I got the info. " That's hitch hiker. They do not have a car and they are trying to go somewhere. Or... That is a person who doesn't have a home or job and they want you to give them money, food, a job etc." I was a very empathetic child and have grown to be an empathic adult. It breaks my heart to know we can spend a billion dollars on a plane for war but we have people living on the street. As I grew older I did learn that some of them were just out to con you or hurt you. There were so many stories I heard about the girls who picked up the hitch hikers and were never seen again. I also saw with my own eyes the homeless guy who swore he was hungry, had no job and no home ,get into a car newer than mine and take off down the road. Then I became old enough to drive. I got the lecture almost every sixteen year old girl gets. DON'T PICK UP STRANGERS!!!!!

This past weekend I was riding in my SUV with my current "friend with benefits" I'll call him Mark for the sake of the story. Mark and I were in my truck and I was relaxing to some music. As I said in my previous blog the weather here was horrible. Rain would come down heavy then lighten up. He was driving and was on the ramp to the expressway when he pulled the truck over into the median and told this strange guy climb on in. I was mortified!!!!! All the years of my parents warnings were banging in my head. I could see this guy being some psychopathic killer leaving me and Mark on the side of the road dead. Or worse yet somewhere I would never be found. No one would know where I was or what had happened to me. I was totally freaked out!!! Since the guy had just climbed in and Mark took off down the road, I sat in stony silence grasping at a pen in my pocket. It was the only thing handy I could think of that would cause enough damage for me to get away if needed. As we drove down the road Mark pulled the guys story from him. I listened.

Seems he was on his way back home. He was from Minnesota and had been out of work for some time. His friend who is a truck driver told him that there were a lot of jobs down in Mississippi and he would give him a lift. They guy went down and when he got there the jobs available were low paying and hard labor. He decided he just wanted to go back home. You could hear the North in his voice and his excitement at being almost 1/2 way there. We dropped him off at a gas station about 8 miles from where we picked him up. He was very grateful and appreciative. When he went to shake my hand I slipped him a 20 dollar bill and his eyes welled up with tears. He turned a little red and thanked me for my generosity. I know I am having a really hard time financially and could not afford to be handing out money, but if I was in his shoes I would appreciate the help as well. What goes around comes around. Maybe he will do something nice for someone else.

I don't think I am going to go around picking up hitch hikers on a regular basis. I probably will not pick one up on my own ever again but I am grateful to have met someone to show me as bad as I may think I have it someone else may be struggling even more. You can always give a lending hand. I hope you meet a stranger that makes you want to reach out with kindness and thank God for all your blessings. I did.

Redneck Wedding

Ok it seems I am the first to blog about my past weekend's events. Last Monday I was invited to a wedding taking place the coming Saturday. I really didn't think anything about receiving the invitation via the telephone rather that the usual card stock -printed invites that you get in the mail. The two getting married is a rather unusual couple. I will get to that in a few minutes. The groom was an old friend of mine from the Redneck bar. He used to be the DJ and would always welcome me with a smile and a huge hug. He is not bad looking, always smelled really good but old enough to be my dad. Literally. I graduated high school with his son. Anyway, he extended the invite to me and told me to inform the gang.

Friday before the wedding we had HORRIBLE rain storms and started having flash flooding. Saturday came and the rain didn't go away. More flooding. Highways and certain roads were closed. Cars and homes submerged, not completely. Basements flooded. It was a mess. I could not imagine having to prepare for a wedding. They did. We showed up at the small church and the groom greeted me as always, with a big hug. We made it on time but it seems his son, the best man, had yet to get there so the wedding was going to be delayed. No problem. Except the DJ for the reception was a girl I had went to high school with and decided she was going to sit next to me, Redneckgirl and Mindtwister. I am usually a very friendly person but she has a way of becoming too friendly with everyone. She has a husband, a boyfriend and a girlfriend and is always looking to expand the list. I did not want to be next on the list even though she kept placing her hand higher on my thigh everytime she would talk to me to get my attention. Yipes!!!

The best man showed and the wedding was underway. I am not really a big wedding person but still something pulls at me when I attend. The normal procession up the isle. The flower girl did not want to throw her flowers. She was so cute. The ceremony was quick but odd. The bride walked up the isle with her veil pulled back showing her face off to the world. No problem many brides these days do that. The odd part was at the end after they pronounced them husband and wife they pulled the veil over her face. They did it backwards!!!! And there was no kiss. Not kidding. I have never been to a wedding where the bride and groom did not kiss at the end and the brides face was completely covered. The bad part was not even 50 people were there and they were expecting over 100.

I told you that I would get into the odd part of the couple. The groom is in his late 40's and the bride in her early 20's. She looks 12. It looked like a father and daughter standing next to one another. I have no problem with age differences butI guess it is the ick factor. I could not imagine marrying a man old enough to be my dad. The odd part was the brides father looked young enough to be the groom. When they had the father daughter dance it looked like they were the ones who should be getting married. They had kareokee at the wedding reception and most of the guests were true rednecks. The bride was hanging out with all her 20 something friends and the groom would disappear to the parking lot to tip the liquor he stashed in the car. Redneckgirl , mindtwister and I finally made our escape and went to the local Tumbleweed restaurant. I proceeded to have a monster margarita. After a trip to the local liquor store and a couple hours at the Redneck bar I was soused. I made my drunken way to the truck and was dropped off at my door. For further information from the night you may be able to convince Redneckgirl or Mindtwister to fill in the gaps....lol

I' ve Been Hit.. Sorry Tagged

So it seems my bestest bud RNG has tagged me. Now I will list 8 things about myself. It does not sound that hard but I have found it to be somewhat of a difficult task. Here goes.

1. I HATE scary movies they give me nightmares.

2. Daffodils make me smile.

3. I fear snakes. Even the tiny garden kind.

4. I do not cry pretty. I don't know how those women do it?

5. I really do miss my little brother.

6. I have to laugh every time I see the dancing baby from Alley McBeal.

7.I do not like the movie It's a Wonderful Life.

8. I am staring to like pink.....OMG!!!


I tag beckylyn and mustangscarlett........