Sob Stories

I wish someone could explain to me what it is about me that says "PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me your life sob story, I can't wait to hear ALL about it."

Today, I was sitting at my desk when a truck driver who was waiting for us to unload his trailer came in to my office and sat down. I was really busy. Or I was really busy pretending to be busy by typing away on G-Chat to Amanda and Heather. That didn't stop him. He proceeds to tell me how long he's been driving a truck and how hard it is on him and his family. And how his truck needs a lot of work but he cannot afford it because business is so slow. Thankfully, he didn't start crying because I didn't have any tissues.

Usually I'm a very nice person and I genuinely like helping people. (I blame my mom.) For instance, during the ice storm, I was at the grocery store trying to find something good to eat from what little they had left. There was no power in the store and people were using flashlights to make their way around. I overheard a man asking a store employee if he could just plug his phone into their generator for a couple of minutes so he could call his son and make sure he was ok. The employee said no. He argued that his wife worked there and he just needed a minute or two. I walked over and asked to see his phone and told him I had a car charger that would work for it. So we went on out to my car and I let him charge his phone for 15 minutes. See, I'm a nice person.

But you have to draw the line somewhere...

About two months ago, I was sitting in the laundromat (aka my personal nightmare) engrossed in a Grisham novel. A woman walks up to me and asks me what I'm reading. I show her. She says "I'm going to be in a wheelchair in less than a year". What? Where did that come from? Why are you telling me this? She goes on to tell me how her whole life has sucked. She's broke. Only has $32 to her name. Her son died in October from cancer at 23. She wouldn't have any luck if she didn't have bad luck. I feel really bad for her at this point but what am I supposed to do? So I let her talk, maybe she just needs to vent. In the meantime her husband goes outside to start their car. He comes back in and says that the car won't start. Or at least that is what I gathered because I couldn't understand a word that came out of his mouth. Think Boomhauer times 10. He walks down the road to True Value to get a part but comes back empty handed because True Value's closed. At this point, the woman is hysterically crying. Out of nowhere she points to me and tells her husband that I will drive him to Auto Zone. I'll do what?? So he goes out to my car and waits for me. I haven't even said anything at this point. I'm in total shock. She tells me that if he tries anything, I have her permission to slap him.

So against my better judgment, I get in the car with this guy I've never met before. To make things worse, it was "Tater Day" (more on that another time) and the streets of Benton were filled with people, making a 5 minutes trip take about 15 minutes one way. He starts talking about how I may have seen him on tv or something along those lines. All I can think is whether it was on Cops or America's Most Wanted. Then I start wondering if this was all an elaborate scheme to steal my clothes. Anyhow, I got back in one piece and my clothes were still where I left them. Normally I take the time to fold all of the clothes when they are done drying but not that day. I threw them in the baskets, went straight home, stormed upstairs past Howard and bought a washer/dryer online from Home Depot.