Monday, May 4, 2009

Have a Little Faith . . .

John and I went to the store last night, as we usually do on Sundays. Purchased the usual, made the official switch to reusable bags (hooray for trees and less garbage - and fewer trips to the car, I might add), and brought home a little extra something that did the opposite of what was most likely intended.

It was time to replace the back scrubber and I chose a long brillo - pad looking thing that was machine washable and looks easeier to dry. We get our groceries home, I put stuff away while John collects the trash, etc. I go to the bathroom to hang the backscrubber and reach for what I thought was the receipt stuck inside the scrubber. No, inside the scrubber was a note wrapped around $10. All I could say was "uh . . . . . . " which kinda freaked John out, because the tone was appearantly paranoid/freaked out.

The note mentioned Jehovah Witness, Exodus, blah blah blah. What was probably intended to be a jesture of goodwill and witnessnessing became a moment of paranoia and fear. Which is really sad. I took the note and money to John, who had the same reaction. I really do hate that we both reacted with fear over a $10 bill left inside a back scrubber at Wal Mart. Why? Because with all of the bad things you hear in the news, and the recent evacuations of a Wal Mart and a Sams, both in Tulsa, the "swine flu pandemic", etc, you can't help but worry about the intentions behind the jesture. Was it tainted with something harmful?

So, what did we do? After washing our hands and spraying the scrubber and $10 with lysol, we folded the $10 up into another piece of paper, and John took the money with him to Jason's Deli, with the intention of passing it on. While he waited for our food, he dropped the money near the wrapped crackers, thinking someone with kids or an employee would find it. As John was leaving, he noticed a homeless man sitting on the steps of the church across the street. He so wanted to go back inside and grab the money to give to the man. Maybe the person who finds the money on the bar will see that man as they leave and think to pass it on. Who knows.

I did use the back scrubber this morning - I'm still alive and no weird reaction. I'm guessing we did not pass on a bacteria - infested $10 bill.

I should probably add this story, which just sets up the paranoia that played out at home: As we pulled into the parking lot of Wal Mart, and head towards a space facing Peoria, I notice a car pull into a space next to another car and see a man hop out of the parked car and head towards the second car. We are now parked next to this second car, where the man is now sitting inside the car with a young woman. I glance over as I'm opening my door and they are kind of hunched towards each other and down. As we step out of our car, he is stepping out of this one and moving back to his car. We cross the parking lot, she swiftly backs out of her space, speeds off, he backs out of his and speeds off in the opposite direction. The quick and sneaky action leads me to believe that I just witnessed a drug deal. Am I crazy to suspect this?


2 comments:

  1. Well sounds like you did the right thing with your found surprise! Thanks for the good book recommendations! Are you in a book club? Wanna start one? (half kidding)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm game! I just request that no Twilight books are involved!

    ReplyDelete