They found me out...
This is very very strange. Down at the bottom, quotes from a very old blog entry here at Thought Struggle appear. The topic is Ray Mercer. Apparently, my story was found and included in this odd list of Ray Mercer info.
"OWL!"
Fafanopoli
The setting: a bus stop at Downtown Disney at approximately 11pm.
The players: older latino gentleman with two other family members (wife and friend, maybe), two 30s-ish caucasian men standing next to a trashcan, my family, and an older (40s/early 50s), smoking, caucasian guy about 15-20 feet from the trashcan guys.
We had just finished shopping at some of the downtown disney stores where my nieces had been busy spending Christmas money on fantastical toys of the Disney variety. It's late, we're tired, and it's cold. We walked up to the bus stop and found the two guys standing next to the trashcan and the Latino family about 10 feet away at the benches of the stop. I immediately sat down on the bench and faced my family who were immediately to the left of the trashcan guys. Seemingly normal situation -- people waiting at the bus stop. Then, after about two minutes, Crazy Irate Smoker Lady (CISL) arrives. She walks up and Smoker-man follows after putting his cigarette out.
"Why were you way down there when there's an ashtray right here," Crazy Irate Smoker Lady asks Smoker-man while pointing to the sand tray on top of the trashcan the other two white guys are standing by. She stands about 5'5" tall and is slight in build. It seems that these four people are together.
"Oh, that gentleman asked me to move away a little bit while I smoked," Smoker-man politely responds; he has acknowledged the older, Latino man. Everyone is smiling and nothing is wrong. Then....
"We're OUTSIDE! You don't have to move, there's an ashtray right here, I cannot believe, ridiculous..." on and on she stops and starts, sputtering about how the guy shouldn't have moved away. She continues mocking the Latino, "Oh, your second hand smoke will make me sick, cough cough cough. If I had those four cigars I'd light them all up right now and smoke them in your face! What about my rights to smoke -- it's not illegal! We're outside!"
At this point, the Smoker-man is trying to whisper to her and calm her down. He audibly says, "It's not a big deal -- I just walked a few feet away."
Just then, the Latino man says very suavely, "Your rights to smoke? HA! What about my rights for good health?"
Crazy Irate Smoker Lady is now pacing back and forth, fuming, and has added pointing and stepping toward the man, who stands across the bus stop from her to her ramblings. I am inbetween them both. I have just laughed at the Latino man's comment. The entire scene is quite facisating and surreal.
She keeps muttering about how she's not even going to bother, how she's not going to say anything more, it's not worth it, it's ridiculous, etc. The Latino man makes a keen observation, one I came close to saying myself, and says, "Then stop talking about it."
Just an aside: I actually agree with the Crazy Lady on principle -- it's not illegal at all. Her friend had every right to smoke at the ashtray, but he's an honest-to-God respectful and decent human being who realized that it's not a big deal to walk 10 feet away to smoke. Even if second hand smoke isn't dangerous, if you don't smoke the smell of cigarette smoke is foul and disgusting, so the Latino man, being affected by the guy's smoke, asked him politely to move. Problem solved, everyone's happy. She must be some sort of smoking activist or something.No one in my family has said anything or even looked at the lady once it was clear she was a loony. BUT, she turns to my sister who is pushing my youngest niece in the stroller, my older niece standing by them and yells, "OH, MY POOR BABIES! Protect them from the smokers! You're killing them." She follows this with faux coughing fits and continues, "I wish I could blow smoke in their faces all day long." I find out later that my sister, who is 37, sticks her tongue out at her after this comment. Awesome. I thought CISL was just speaking in generalities here and wasn't actually bringing my family into this -- I didn't see her turn to my sister or my sister's reaction. My ignorance being the case, I then wonder about what happens next after we get on the bus...
Aside: I am loving every second of this while everyone else appears horrified. This is full-blown Axis II pathology in action, this is a personality disorder laid bare for all to see.The bus arrives and it is clear that we are the only ones getting on this particular line. The Latino family and the Smokers are left outside with a sputtering and muttering and yelling CISL. We all get on the bus and I am sitting next to Bly; my family is across from us in those seats up front that make you face the opposite window. Outside I see Crazy Irate Smoker lady making faces and giving me two thumbs down. I wonder why she's doing this because we didn't say a thing to her and she didn't seem to notice us at all (at this point I didn't know that she was actually talking about my nieces or that my sister stuck her tongue out at her). She then points directly at me and I can see her mouthing words and giving us two thumbs down...so, smiling, I raise the backs of my fingers to my chin and wipe them across it at her in the style of Italians (the nieces are looking at me and I don't want to flick her off in their line of sight). Her eyes get HUGE, she turns beat red, and she does the sign back at me. I cannot hold it in anymore and I start to laugh, which she can see because the bus lights are still on. She flicks me off repeatedly, and literally (and I'm not misusing this word here)
lunges toward the window of the bus, almost jumping off of the curb, and the three guys that are with her (the two trashcan guys and Smoker man) grab her by the shoulders, pull her back, and restrain her physically behind them. I can see her struggling to break free of their hold and get to the bus, her hands in the shape of talons, clawing through the air. I keep laughing. The bus pulls away and it's over.
Except for one final comment from my oldest niece, "That lady was really really mad about something."
Fin.
Mickey, Fairies, Princesses, & Mental Patients
Later I'll write about the crazy, irate smoker woman at the Downtown Disney bus stop, but for now -- pictures!
That's all for now, people.
Back to reality
Yes, I have been lazy about posting. I've been too busy with work, school, internship interviews, Christmas break, and traveling to Orlando last week.
Bly and I went to Augusta and Sav'h for the holidays, back to Athens for two days, and then to Orlando to go to Disney World for a whopping five days of magical park goodness. We got back to Athens on the 7th and now it's back to work/school for both of us. I'll post more later, but I wanted my three or four loyal readers to know I'm not dead.
