On Being Pre-Thankful …
This past weekend our good friends, Josh and Lori, had what was billed as a Pre-Thanksgiving potluck party at their lovely home in Washington, D.C. Since we had already made the decision to not travel on Thanksgiving proper, and we knew that we were having guests for the winter holiday, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to get away for a long weekend. Not only would we get to see most of our favorite friends because of the party, but we wouldn’t have to travel on the worst bloody flying days of the year. Josh and Lori were also very sweet to let us stay with them.
Another plus was that we found an excellent price on a flight on Southwest. The minus was that we had to fly out of Manchester Airport (New Hampshire) to catch it. One hundred thirty-five miles from Montpelier. Oh, and it was an 8:50 a.m. flight, which meant we had to be on the road by 5:30 a.m., at latest. Did we mention that it snowed the night before, and that the roads were icy? We didn’t let these things get in our way though. While we had to drive slower than the speed limit for the first part of the trip, we were able to make up the time once we got to New Hampshire, where the roads were significantly drier.
The rest of the trip, thankfully, went very smoothly.
Whatever Happened to When in Rome? …
This morning as we were climbing the escalator at the Silver Spring Metro stop we encountered something we see a lot around these parts this time of year: tourists. And as tourists are wont to do in our fair city, they were standing on the left side of the escalator. People who know me, know I have no love for the “tourons,” but I am a reasonable person, and know that local customs are unlikely to be known outside of the area. As I passed the visitors, I said to the adult male, “It is local practice to stand to the right so that others can walk on the left.” A woman in front of me turned around and said “Yeah!” and I told her that they couldn’t know, and it’s not like there are signs.
We continued to the platform to wait for a train and a few seconds later the tourist I spoke to, and his 2 pre-teen daughters, walked near us and I smiled at them. The gentleman said “sorry, we’re not from around here.” I replied “I assumed as much, which is why I was trying to be nice and let you know before you got downtown and someone wasn’t so nice.”
What he said next stunned me.
“You weren’t nice.”
“Excuse me?” I said. “The woman in front of me may not have been nice, but I believe I was very polite,” and I repeated exactly what I said to him. He nodded, but it seemed to me that what I was saying was going in one ear and out the other.
All the while, his daughters scowled at me.
I could have easily titled this “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” but I am trying very hard to stay positive.