OT VENT: I am a Target.

wrote:
I have had this problem all my life but it is *always* worse during
the holidays. Crazy people want to talk to me. Strangers. In public.
Sorry to be so OT, but this is bugging me. I need to figure out what
it is about me that causes them to single *me* out.
Sherry

It's not just you. And it's not just crazy people. Several years ago after
I'd had all I could take of the Christmas with my brothers, I stopped at a
convenience store to buy beer on the way home. Apparently a lot of others
felt the same There was a line. The man in front of me turned and
started talking to me. Apparently he hadn't been in the area for 20 years
and was surprised how much it had changed. Okay, that's a pretty normal
comment. But then he launched into his life story, from where he attended
high school to everything he'd done since. We're talking about a man in his
50's so he'd done a *lot* since, none of which I was remotely interested in.
I kept mumbling, "uh huh" and "that's nice" but looking past him to see why
the line wasn't moving faster.

*Then* he looked at how I was dressed and said, "You must be a secretary."
Excuse me? Uh, no. He pressed on, "What do you do?" I told him I do
software technical support. He said, "Ohhhhh, you're one of those *smart*
women." Okay, this was offensive to me. The implication that secretaries
are stupid? I'd like to see him do that job. I can't recall what I said;
I'm sure it wasn't very nice because he turned around and shut up.

Jill

Oh I have a glowing neon sign above my head. It says "Loony on the bus
welcome here"

Cheers, helen s

"sriddles" wrote in message
ups.com

And I worry that I'm becoming a recluse. Maybe it's not so bad.
Vent over. Thanks for listening!
Sherry

LMAO!!!

I am *SO* glad it's not just me that has to deal with wierdos. Yesterday
I got acosted by a Chinese lady in the bank asking me to explain what
the word YULE meant in a Christmas card!

Helen M



========================================
I've had people say they hope I'm cured. Hello been this way in wheelchair
all my life, big whoop. Trust me there are worse things to deal with.
Besides armrests are good cat perches. But shes not allowed to drive my
chair.
Suz

"SuzQ" wrote in message
lkaboutpets.com...


"sriddles" wrote in message
ups.com

And I worry that I'm becoming a recluse. Maybe it's not so bad.
Vent over. Thanks for listening!
Sherry

LMAO!!!

I am *SO* glad it's not just me that has to deal with wierdos. Yesterday
I got acosted by a Chinese lady in the bank asking me to explain what
the word YULE meant in a Christmas card!

Helen M



========================================
I've had people say they hope I'm cured. Hello been this way in wheelchair
all my life, big whoop. Trust me there are worse things to deal with.
Besides armrests are good cat perches. But shes not allowed to drive my
chair.
Suz

Oh, yes....I have noticed many people feel utterly free to
accost those who are assisted in their moving about by
either devices or d-pets in public - mostly verbal, but I have actually seen
some actually grab handles of chairs
in their eagerness to "assist" foks who don't need their
"help" resulting in dismay/alarm to the seated ones! The
obnoxious verbal comments range from nosy questions
to nervy and idiotic unsolicited "advice", such as your
"hope you're cured soon" gem. Too bad we can't train
cats to bite on command...but then they wouldn't be cats.

"SuzQ" wrote in message
lkaboutpets.com...


"sriddles" wrote in message
ups.com

And I worry that I'm becoming a recluse. Maybe it's not so bad.
Vent over. Thanks for listening!
Sherry

LMAO!!!

I am *SO* glad it's not just me that has to deal with wierdos. Yesterday
I got acosted by a Chinese lady in the bank asking me to explain what
the word YULE meant in a Christmas card!

Helen M



========================================
I've had people say they hope I'm cured. Hello been this way in wheelchair
all my life, big whoop. Trust me there are worse things to deal with.
Besides armrests are good cat perches. But shes not allowed to drive my
chair.
Suz


Have you had the "does she take sugar?" comment?

Tweed

Cheryl Perkins wrote:
I'm sometimes approached by strangers, but mostly they are harmless people
trying to be friendly. Sometimes they are a bit odd, but it never seems
to hurt to simply smile politely and respond briefly.

Obviously you people are dressed all wrong. Wear a lot of black
(either long, flowing, Victorian-style clothing, or else something with
a heavy-metal logo on it) and put spikes in all your piercings (you
ought to have at least three of those if you're female). Wear boots
everywhere, and walk like you mean business.

Actually, in this part of Canada it's pretty common for people to
strike up conversations with others in line or at the bus stop, and
even the above style preferences don't stop them....I've had very few
whackos though.

Dylan, on the other hand, is working in the psychiatric hospital right
now and he sees the cream of the whacko crop every day.

--Fil

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have had this problem all my life but it is *always* worse during
the
holidays. Crazy people want to talk to me. Strangers. In public.
Sorry to be so OT, but this is bugging me. I need to figure out what
it
is about me that causes them to single *me* out.
snipped

You're not alone Sherry, I do collecting (money) for charity (cats of
course) which involves sitting outside a store, making eye contact
with as many people as possible so they feel guilty walking past me
without putting anything in my collecting tin....... and I always get
the drunks, loonies or cat haters who want to either tell me their
life story or give me their views on everything from cats to religion
and I can't walk away.....plus they always stand right in front of me
so other shoppers can't see me or those that can steer clear because
they don't want to get drawn into the 'conversation'.......ack! Don't
these people realise I'm not sat freezing my backside off just so I
can listen to their ramblings....and they very rarely put anything in
my tin....bah!

--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

wrote:
.. He said Merry Christmas and stuck his hand
out. I shook it and said, "Merry Christmas." He wouldn't let go of my
hand. He said, "You know, they told me to stop saying Merry Christmas,
but I'm going to say it anyway. It's that damned Madelyn Murray
O'Hare's fault. She took prayer out of the schools and she took Christ
out of Christmas. She is burning in Hell this very moment, you know
that? She is BURNING in Hell while we are talking. As the world ends,
her fiery damnation will end not. " And on. And on. And on.
I wiggled my hand away finally and said, "Mister, you're going to get
fired and it's not going to be for saying "Merry Christmas."

Wow, she did that all on the same day? At that point I think I would
have said "Oh, I love the smell of heretics burning in the morning!" I
think that guy had ONE or two issues. Maybe this is one reason why I
refuse to shop at Wal-Mart! I don't need people to greet me, I just
want to get my shopping done as efficiently as possible!

And I worry that I'm becoming a recluse. Maybe it's not so bad.

Some days, I think I could be a very happy hermit, so you're not alone!

Vent over. Thanks for listening!
Sherry

Melissa

"Enfilade" wrote in message
ups.com...

Cheryl Perkins wrote:
I'm sometimes approached by strangers, but mostly they are harmless
people
trying to be friendly. Sometimes they are a bit odd, but it never seems
to hurt to simply smile politely and respond briefly.

Obviously you people are dressed all wrong. Wear a lot of black
(either long, flowing, Victorian-style clothing, or else something with
a heavy-metal logo on it) and put spikes in all your piercings (you
ought to have at least three of those if you're female). Wear boots
everywhere, and walk like you mean business.

Actually, in this part of Canada it's pretty common for people to
strike up conversations with others in line or at the bus stop, and
even the above style preferences don't stop them....I've had very few
whackos though.

Dylan, on the other hand, is working in the psychiatric hospital right
now and he sees the cream of the whacko crop every day.

--Fil

ROFLMAO! Good advice but you forgot "local gang-colors hankies" or do-rags.
Would *you* go up and start an annoying conversation to Ozzie or Marilyn M.
if they were total strangers to you? How 'bout 50-cent and his
posse? Leave it to a Wiccan to come up with a practical
solution, LOL.

"Marina" wrote in message
...

Heh, don't count on it. I still convert Euros into Finnish Marks to find
out what stuff *really* costs, and we joined in... ummmm... 2002?

I still convert back to miles from kilometers, even though we converted in
1977. I was in elementary school then! Part of it is that we live near
this "green strip" - a long strip of grass which is exactly a mile long.
There were many miles of running training on there. We got to know
*exactly* how long a mile was :-)

Susan M
Otis and Chester