MANNERS MAKETH MAN
If I didn’t trust myself, I would say that I was emotionally stunted. Have you ever been so royally pissed off your body sort of vibrates and you can’t say anything because there is too much to say at once? Well, this past week was it for me. If it was a case of pot calling kettle black, I would totally accept defeat. In this case, she’s the pot and I am the china ware. I lack manners? Me?
I live in a boarding-type house and we all come from different walks of life to serve our country in the Youth Service Corp. I don’t know this lady from Adam and she thinks putting her nose up in the air at everybody is going to get her something. I really can’t tell with her. She wakes up in the morning, moves about her corner tidying, and says hi to whomever she deems fit to speak to. She tend to her toilette, comes back, does what she needs to do then either stays on her bed or leaves for work. Unfortunately for me, she is the one in charge of the small shop in the house. They sell all kinds of stuff. My saving grace is, she is not the only one in charge. You want to get something from the shop, you have to tread lightly. Start your sentence with a “Please” and sort of drag it a little or she looks right through you, like you’re either not there or not human. I prefer not there because I am certainly humanoid. When she gets the stuff for you, she sort of dumps it next to your open outstretched hand. Trust me, it doesn’t matter how well positioned your hand is, she still seems to miss it. She has no problem with her sight.
IF she’s walking down the hallway and you’re coming in the opposite direction, you could be a slight breeze for all she cares. She walks right past you and I sort of get the whole Patrick Swayze’s Ghost feeling, like you’re being walked right through. Sometimes it’s funny when she does it to someone else. When she does it to me, I have this Devil on my left shoulder telling me I should have left a thumbtack on the floor for her to step on, but the angel on my right shoulder tells me I probably would step on it myself. I use glasses. Did I forget to mention that I try to greet her when I am feeling lucky but every time, her answer sounds kinda like “rumunprh”. Don’t ask me, seriously. I have no clue what it means. Maybe it’s code word for “hey, how are you doing too?” A girl could dream right.
The altercation I had with her should never have been. I guess I had left myself a little open and, to someone who sort of hates surprise, this was a rude awakening. At the end of it all, I am totally without manners, the wrong type of leader, a little stupid here and there (in my own words) and completely undeserving of her attention. The last part is weird because, even when I stopped talking, she kept going. One hour three hours later, I’m back to the room and realize I was just on an intermission. She seems to be giving me too much attention now, with the insults. Don’t know what to do with all that queenly light of attention on me. Should I bow at some point or what? I’ve gotten past pissed and I’m just plain tired. I realize now that I will never wish for her attention, ever. It’s a little too concentrated and I’ll probably die of overfeeding. No qualms.