Special Snowflake Stories

[Jocelyn]

That is so sad- one of my great pleasures used to be going to the local elite shopping district, and going through the stores looking at all the things I'd buy if I had married a millionaire.  Fancy jewelry I have no place to wear, and art glass (which would never survive the felines!) were tops on the list. I'd imagine taking it home to my beautiful mansion with me, where I'd put it, etc. Strangely enough, this was at a time where I was prone to impulsive buys when shopping in the store I could afford- if I went to JCP I ended up with something I didn't really need because I felt too deprived if I came home without something. But shopping for $400 art glass...somehow, the imagining that I was taking it home solved the deprivation feelings better than a $20 shirt.

[Minmom3]

There are a couple of bits like that near me - they go round the edge of the roundabouts but separated by a media so you don't have anyone to give way to.  I was driving behind someone and we hit two within half a mile and this person stopped at both.  Bearing in mind it was a 50mph road so I've got vehicle s coming at me at that speed and this guy won't move!!!

When my mother came down for DD#1's graduation from high school, we were driving up a 2 lane highway, with a center passing and turning lane for a short portion of it.  This was a road that a LOT of the big rigs that service farms use - these are large vehicles, and many of them are fully loaded when using this road, so stopping quickly is NOT going to happen.  Mom and I were coming up on the passing and turn lane, and somebody from the housing complex swung out into the lane, and stopped, waiting for us and the farm trucks to pass by so they could enter the driving lane.  Mom comes to a screeching halt IN the DRIVING lane, thinking that the car in the turn lane is in front of us, instead of one lane left of us.  I tell her that the car is next to, not in front of us, AND there are big rigs bearing down behind us and we're going to be hamburger very soon if she doesn't motivate asap!  I got her to get moving again just as the truck behind us started honking and using his brakes, and we got out of there.  I nearly wet my pants...  Mom really did not believe me that the other car was next to us, even as she passed him still sitting there. 

That was the last time any of us got in the car with her driving.  I told the girls they weren't allowed any more, I told Mom that none of us would be riding with her anymore, and I wrote a letter to the DMV describing our close call.  DMV didn't do anything about it.  I finally got Mom's car away from her after her 2nd hip replacement, when dementia had become obvious and was confirmed by the doctor in a letter I took to the DMV.  It was nearly 5 years after that first close call.  In that time, she totaled the car she had, and had no clue how the accident had happened.  She had her license suspended until she took 2 classes mandated by the DMV, and got another car, which she had a few more accidents in, and again did not know how they had happened.  She got lost while traveling to our house for Christmas, and couldn't tell me how she got lost, and didn't have a good reason for not leaving hours earlier so she'd get to our place before dark.  It was a long and frustrating period that I spent wondering if she was going to get into an accident that hurt somebody.

[Miss Misery]

My sociopath older sister strikes again.

This time she took our parents car (without their knowledge or permission) out of state. I'm watching the horizon for the fireworks that will greet her when her sorry butt gets home.

[VorFemme]

I once took a theft report from a car insurance client - her ex-husband (no D involved) had "borrowed" it to drive to work, then quit his job and taken off three days earlier.  It was her son's car.  She didn't have insurance to cover the replacement - but she wanted it to be clear that if he was in an accident while driving it - that her insurance was NOT liable for the damages or anyone's injuries.

[Mental Magpie]

My sociopath older sister strikes again.

This time she took our parents car (without their knowledge or permission) out of state. I'm watching the horizon for the fireworks that will greet her when her sorry butt gets home.

Woooooooooow.    (Did I put enough "o"'s to express my shock?).  Do let us know what happens?

[Miss Misery]

My sociopath older sister strikes again.

This time she took our parents car (without their knowledge or permission) out of state. I'm watching the horizon for the fireworks that will greet her when her sorry butt gets home.

Woooooooooow.    (Did I put enough "o"'s to express my shock?).  Do let us know what happens?

Dad says he's kicking her out of the house. Good riddance. If it had been my car I would have reported it stolen and had her arrested.

[Diane AKA Traska]

My sociopath older sister strikes again.

This time she took our parents car (without their knowledge or permission) out of state. I'm watching the horizon for the fireworks that will greet her when her sorry butt gets home.

Woooooooooow.    (Did I put enough "o"'s to express my shock?).  Do let us know what happens?

Dad says he's kicking her out of the house. Good riddance. If it had been my car I would have reported it stolen and had her arrested.

Total agreement on all points.

[Mental Magpie]

My sociopath older sister strikes again.

This time she took our parents car (without their knowledge or permission) out of state. I'm watching the horizon for the fireworks that will greet her when her sorry butt gets home.

Woooooooooow.    (Did I put enough "o"'s to express my shock?).  Do let us know what happens?

Dad says he's kicking her out of the house. Good riddance. If it had been my car I would have reported it stolen and had her arrested.

Total agreement on all points.

Ditto. I'd have reported her, too.

[Daquiri40]

The mother kept berating her daughter for wanting to go inside and the three of them stood there (in the middle of the hall, people had to walk around them) and stared at me while I went inside to look around. I got the sense that my friend's glaring mother blamed me for wanting to go inside/her daughter wanting to go in. I felt so uncomfortable that I quickly walked out without buying anything.

I had a friend like this.  When I went shopping with her, I was shopping with HER as in she was doing all of the shopping and I was supposed to think it was fun watching her.  SHE had a list and we had to look for everything on it, no matter how long it took.  I did this like twice.

The last time I went shopping with her, I said - I am going to look over here for a minute and she dramatically sat in a chair and said to me, "I guess you can, I've bought everything on my list that I needed."   It was the last time I went shopping with her, of course.

I never understood the SS part of her that thought following her around as she shopped was the high point of my life.

[weeblewobble]

The mother kept berating her daughter for wanting to go inside and the three of them stood there (in the middle of the hall, people had to walk around them) and stared at me while I went inside to look around. I got the sense that my friend's glaring mother blamed me for wanting to go inside/her daughter wanting to go in. I felt so uncomfortable that I quickly walked out without buying anything.

I had a friend like this.  When I went shopping with her, I was shopping with HER as in she was doing all of the shopping and I was supposed to think it was fun watching her.  SHE had a list and we had to look for everything on it, no matter how long it took.  I did this like twice.

The last time I went shopping with her, I said - I am going to look over here for a minute and she dramatically sat in a chair and said to me, "I guess you can, I've bought everything on my list that I needed."   It was the last time I went shopping with her, of course.

I never understood the SS part of her that thought following her around as she shopped was the high point of my life.

I had this experience with a friend who had lost a dramatic amount of weight.  Don't get me wrong, I was really excited for her.  And the first time we went shopping for "skinny clothes" it was fun to find all sorts of cute, sexier outfits for her to try on because she'd never been able to dress like that before.  But she expected EVERY trip to be like that.  She was Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, trying on a montage of outfits, and I was her adoring audience.

If I attempted to shop for myself, she got huffy and sulky and said, "I don't even know why you came."

Uh... to buy some jeans?

[TylerBelle]

Count me in as a member of the entourage club. For I experienced the same, had a friend who enjoyed having me tagalong as she shopped for herself. If I tried looking at something for me, suddenly she was bored and we had to move on.

Once there was a group of us on an out of town trip and we went to a mall that had a Disney store. I got excited for it was something we didn't have back home. My friend was in the group that went with me into the store and later she related to others how I acted about it. Maybe I read her wrong, but I felt she thought I was childish for I was all agog about the store, and kind of burdened her and the rest with us at the time for having to go in there with me. Whatever. It was your decision, not mine, to go in there as well.

[siamesecat2965]

This is why I won't shop with certain people. I like to take my time in some store, but am not interested in others. I've had friends who seem ok with me going in to a store, but then start the huffing and sighing, like I'm torturing them, and we've only been there about 10 minutes.

My cousin is a compulsive shopper. If there's something to be seen, or bought, or deity forbid SOME kind of sale, she's there. I personally don't care about a lot of what she likes, but she's perfectly content for me to park myself somewhere while she browses, or we will split up and go to different stores, and then meet up later on.

[violinp]

Dear teen girls who were at the theater last night:

I understand that it was probably the first time you'd ever been allowed to be out so late for a movie without a supervising adult. However, giggling at scrabble scenes, shrieking, and chatting loudly are not ever considered appropriate behavior. You were irritating everyone else in the cinema and ruining their experience. Also, it is not considered appropriate to clap very loudly as you leave. Hint: If no one else is doing it, chances are good that it's inappropriate.

[artk2002]

We interrupt this broadcast to report... an astonishing lack of Special Snowflakes!

Mrs.k2002, the boys and I went to Disneyland on 12/28, which is one of the park's busiest days of the year. Amazingly, there really weren't any SSs to be seen, although I'm sure that the cast found more than a few. Several attractions were closed due to breakdowns, but I didn't hear anyone complaining. Lines for food were long, but everyone was courteous. I saw people sharing tables with strangers (as we did ourselves) because seating was at a premium for meals. I think the worst was an 8yo boy who elbowed past me in line to catch up with his parents. There were the usual groups of people stopping in awkward places, blocking traffic, but those were few and far-between. Maybe I'm just mellowing in my old age.

Well... we did see one real SS, but most of his specialness came outside of the park. For those not familiar with DL, there's a special off-ramp from the Interstate 5 car-pool lane* just for DL. It lets you onto the street right by the bridge that leads to the DL parking structure. We were tooling along in the car-pool lane, coming up behind a somewhat slow moving armored car, when I noticed the car behind me, tail-gating. Without admitting anything on my own part, officer, I can guarantee that that car was going well over the speed limit. I tapped my brakes but he kept tail-gating. There was no way I was going to push the armored car any faster. Once we got to the end of the off-ramp, he sped around me (on the right), passed the armored car (on the right, cutting it off) and zipped up the bridge to the parking. After all of that mad driving (suitable for Mr. Toad), the SS and his passengers ended up sitting right in front of us in the tram from the parking to the park.

*BG: Car-pool (or HOV) lanes in SoCal are separated from the rest of the freeway. You can't switch in or out of the lane except at specially designated points, so there's no way for either the SS or for me to change lanes.

Travel tip: If you come to the DL resort and visit Disney's California Adventure, I highly recommend getting reservations at the Carthay Circle restaurant. The food and drinks are fantastic. If you can't get reservations, at least have a drink (yes, they serve alcohol, unlike DL) and some appetizers at the Carthay Circle lounge.

[weeblewobble]

Seriously, why is it always the grocery store?

I had a cartload of items when I arrived at the checkout, so I was careful to avoid the express lanes.  I arrived at the lane, after an elderly couple, just before another family - two parents and a woman in her late teens/early twenties. All three of us had equally full carts.  There was no question as to who got to the line in which order.  It was the elderly couple, me, and then the family.  But the young woman, rolled her eyes and huffed, as if I should have let them ahead of me for some reason I was unaware of.

I ignored her and unloaded my cart.  The young woman huffed to herself about how LONG people take unloading their carts, and how this whole store was just ridiculous for not getting people through line quicker.  Over and over, she whined about how LONG it was taking, she wanted to go home, this wait was ridiculous, couldn't people go faster?  With each gripe, she got louder and louder until it was absolutely clear that the cashier heard every word.

Finally, when the family got close enough to the register to put their items on the belt, they couldn't find the divider bar to separate our items. When she saw that the cashier didn't notice their "distress," the young woman stomped past, out of the store, loudly huffing, "This is RIDICULOUS. I am going HOME.  I hate this stupid place!"

All the while her parents placidly went through their grocery shopping.

Seriously, it was like seeing a five year old trapped in a 18/20 year old's body.