Special Snowflake Stories

[kherbert05]

My parents listened to Talk Radio. I think that I was lucky because that was easier to tune out. It took the longest time for me to get Mom and Dad to understand that audio books weren't a cop out. I was allowed to listen to them on trips though - because reading in a moving car was not an option.

[mmswm]

My parents listened to Talk Radio. I think that I was lucky because that was easier to tune out. It took the longest time for me to get Mom and Dad to understand that audio books weren't a cop out. I was allowed to listen to them on trips though - because reading in a moving car was not an option.

After reading all these stories I was thinking the same thing about talk radio and classical music.  Classical music pieces tend to be long, so it's hard to get really burned out on most of it (with major exceptions for "The Nutcracker", the opera "Hansel and Gretel", and "Bolero"...if I never have to hear any of those again it will be too soon, but my burn out on those doesn't come from car rides).

[snowfire]

Son-in-law #1 has a hilarious story about witnessing the downfall of a local SS gangbanger who thought that not only was the world his trash can, but that his fecal matter had no odor.   SS tosses an empty paper cup into the air and lets it fall the ground, 10 feet from a trash can, thus attracting the attention of a passing cop in a police cruiser.  Cop tells SS twice to PICK UP THE CUP AND PUT IT IN THE TRASH.  SS ignores cop. PICK UP THE CUP AND PUT IT IN THE TRASH OR YOU WILL BE CHARGED WITH LITTERING.  SS then gives cop the finger.  Cop barrels out of the cruiser, wrestles cuffs on SS, stuffs him into the cruiser, and away they go.  And undoubtedly he was charged with a whole list of things other than plain littering.

Bwaahhhaaaahaaaaa.   Messing with the karma fairy can be painful!  I'll bet when they ran his prints they had a whole long list of charges so slap him with. "Felony Stupid in Public" for starters.

[Hazmat]

Paraphrasing Stephen Wright:
One time my friend George & I went on a 5 day cross-country trip with only one tape to listen to.  I forget what it was.

[Outdoor Girl]

I think I've told this story here before:  my brother used to have the authority to write littering tickets under environmental legislation.  He was paddling one night at the local rapid and there was a man with his young son, fishing.  They left a pop can behind.  They were still in the parking lot when my brother was coming in.  He identified himself and asked the man to go back and get the can.  His son was all for it but couldn't go on his own.  The man refused.  So my brother wrote him a ticket, based on his driver's license.

When he spoke to his boss, boss was all for going ahead with the ticket.  Turns out, the man had moved about 6 months before and had neglected to update his driver's license with his new address.  So for refusing to go back and pick up a pop can, he ended up with several hundred dollars in fines, on top of the littering fine.

[Library Dragon]

I only got to enjoy this as an eye witness, but it's a favorite story. 

In grad school I was outside chatting with one of my education profs.  As at many campuses the traffic creeps along.  The prof recognized one of his undergrad students and tried to wave, but she didn't see him.  She the lowers her window and non-challantly drops a large fast food bag out the window.  The window goes up.  The car pulls up a few feet.

The prof goes and picks up the bag, walks over to the car, and knocks on the window.  The window comes down. "Hi SS you accidentally dropped this." He hands her the bag and walks back to me. 

He was simultaneously angry and delighted pondering if she would say anything the next day in class.  As far as I know she never did.  He did share that she once asked him if the Revolutionary War was before or after WW2.

[NyaChan]

I only got to enjoy this as an eye witness, but it's a favorite story. 

In grad school I was outside chatting with one of my education profs.  As at many campuses the traffic creeps along.  The prof recognized one of his undergrad students and tried to wave, but she didn't see him.  She the lowers her window and non-challantly drops a large fast food bag out the window.  The window goes up.  The car pulls up a few feet.

The prof goes and picks up the bag, walks over to the car, and knocks on the window.  The window comes down. "Hi SS you accidentally dropped this." He hands her the bag and walks back to me. 

He was simultaneously angry and delighted pondering if she would say anything the next day in class.  As far as I know she never did.  He did share that she once asked him if the Revolutionary War was before or after WW2.

It hurts.  It actually hurts!

[Elfmama]

I only got to enjoy this as an eye witness, but it's a favorite story. 

In grad school I was outside chatting with one of my education profs.  As at many campuses the traffic creeps along.  The prof recognized one of his undergrad students and tried to wave, but she didn't see him.  She the lowers her window and non-challantly drops a large fast food bag out the window.  The window goes up.  The car pulls up a few feet.

The prof goes and picks up the bag, walks over to the car, and knocks on the window.  The window comes down. "Hi SS you accidentally dropped this." He hands her the bag and walks back to me. 

He was simultaneously angry and delighted pondering if she would say anything the next day in class.  As far as I know she never did.  He did share that she once asked him if the Revolutionary War was before or after WW2.

It hurts.  It actually hurts!

That's the kind of stupid you get when everything before one's own birthdate is all lumped together as "The Olden Days" or "A Long, Long Time Ago." 

[Library Dragon]

I was frightened that she was an education major.   

[eltf177]

You _had_ to bring up long trips with one tape. Imagine this:

California to Virginia, Summer 1976. Hot, car's A/C doesn't work well and thus isn't used. Four people and lots of stuff crammed into a fairly small space. 8 Track with 2 tapes: a homemade tape of The Four Aces and Tony Orlando and Dawn's Greatest Hits. Mom hates the first and loves the second, so coast-to-coast nothing but TIE A YELLOW RIBBON and other songs.

To this day, if I hear Tony Orlando and Dawn I get motion sick even sitting still...

[LadyJaneinMD]

I once took a road trip with a friend, from New York State to Georgia.   With the Statler Brothers in the tape player the whole way there, and back. 

I used to like the Statler Brothers.  *sigh* 

[o_gal]

He did share that she once asked him if the Revolutionary War was before or after WW2.

It hurts.  It actually hurts!

That's the kind of stupid you get when everything before one's own birthdate is all lumped together as "The Olden Days" or "A Long, Long Time Ago."

No, stupid would be if she didn't ask, and just went on assuming that maybe it was after WW2. She asked because she didn't know, and now she does. It is kind of brain hurty she got through elementary/middle/high school without knowing something that she really should have learned. But if we're going to call adults "stupid" for asking questions that we assume that they should already know, then it's going to make it tough for anyone to want to ask questions for fear of being labelled "stupid". </soapbox>

[MariaE]

He did share that she once asked him if the Revolutionary War was before or after WW2.

It hurts.  It actually hurts!

That's the kind of stupid you get when everything before one's own birthdate is all lumped together as "The Olden Days" or "A Long, Long Time Ago."

No, stupid would be if she didn't ask, and just went on assuming that maybe it was after WW2. She asked because she didn't know, and now she does. It is kind of brain hurty she got through elementary/middle/high school without knowing something that she really should have learned. But if we're going to call adults "stupid" for asking questions that we assume that they should already know, then it's going to make it tough for anyone to want to ask questions for fear of being labelled "stupid". </soapbox>

*Applause*

[LadyClaire]

The people who live one street over from us have a boxer. They do not have a fenced yard and will usually walk the dog when he has to go. Except sometimes they don't feel like walking him, and will just open their back door and let him run loose in the subdivision. The dog isn't aggressive, but he barks loudly at everything (and sometimes at nothing at all) and will go into people's yards to do his business or to bother their dogs.

Well, they let him out at 1:00 A.M. last night, and at 3:00 A.M. he was still outside, running loose, standing in driveways and barking his head off. He woke up just about everyone on our street, including me. A few people tried to catch him to take him back home, but no one could grab him. Our next door neighbor called the police, who hopefully had a word with the owners. Fingers crossed that this puts an end to them just letting the dog run loose when they don't want to walk him. If not, I'm going to have to start calling animal control every time the dog is out, because it's unfair to everyone else in the subdivision.

[Margo]

No to mention being unfair to the dog, which may get injured or lost.