One lunch trip.

There is nothing like lunch with a friend to add fun to your life. 

And then there was this:

We are walking out of a little hometown pizza place that’s been in business since I was in high school. My friend carries, in her hands, a container with one piece of her pineapple and ham personal-sized pizza and a drink that contained no aspartame, since her daughter had told her to cut out the aspartame, and she’s already had one diet coke. My friend’s purse is on her shoulder. I'm shouldering my bag and carrying my drink. That’s where I went wrong. I had one empty hand.

“Oh!” she says.

I look at my friend. “What?”

“Do you have a free hand?”
“Yes,” I say before finding out why.
She stops walking. “Would you get that off me. My hands are full.” She nods at a grasshopper sitting near the edge of her three-quarter sleeved sweater (and what appears to be cashmere).
What if it jumps in my face? What if it crawls on my hand? I don’t like insects except butterflies. However, the grasshopper could spit on her sweater. 
I wave my hand over the insect in magic-trick style, but it doesn't disappear.
“Oh! It’s still there,” she says the obvious.
Not wanting to sacrifice our friendship over a little grasshopper spit, I nudged its side, and it flies away.

Friendship saved.
Then there was this on the way back to work. 

I pass a carwash. In one stall is a man hand washing his car, dressed in swimming trunks and a white business shirt. No tie.

I just kept on driving.

Comments

People are weird. And sometimes wonderful.
Love that you managed to step up to shooing away the hopper.
Mason Canyon said…
Sounds like the grasshopper really liked your friend's sweater too. Okay the guy washing this car....words fail me but I have to ask, did he have on shoes and socks?
You were a hero!

And...wow. Lots of characters out there to write about!
JoJo said…
I would have offered to hold what was in her hand and SHE could get rid of the grasshopper. Or as they say here in New England, grasshoppah. lol Those things freak me out. But the guy at the carwash.....I'm hoping it wasn't a speedo because if so, please pass the eye bleach. lol
Pat Hatt said…
haha a little whack is all it takes. Hmm, glad I never saw the later.
Hi Theresa - don't read my latest post! But that chap in the car wash - definitely glad I'm not married to him!! Wonder if he knows what the family think .... and yes what a great thought ... make a point of videoing him next time - and then YouTubing it?!

I suppose you could have held your friend's cup and then she could have got rid of her lodger?!

Fun read .. cheers Hilary
The dude in swim trunks was a laugh out loud moment! Things you never thought you'd see...
It makes you wonder what prompted that man to wash his car looking like that. :-)
Jemi Fraser said…
The car wash guy deserves a story!!
Hope you and the grasshopper were all okay :)
It was not a speedo, and I'm so glad. My eyes burned as it was.
I never think of YouTube or even taking a photo. I see a lot of crazy things in my little town, but never think to document them with photos.
I may have blacked out because I don't remember if he had shoes on at all. :)
I will be no hero saving people from bugs. Very chicken.
Consider yourself fortunate to not see that display.
I did not laugh until later. I think i was in shock at the time.
I wish I knew. Or maybe not. :)
Grasshoppers and I are never okay. The guy was a story in himself. One I hope he keeps to himself. :)
Stephen Tremp said…
Maybe the guy washing his car was also taking a bath. He was multi-tasking and saving a dew dollars.
I hadn't thought of that. As I remember, during my shocked out moment, his car was nice, his shirt was nice, his swim trunks were blue and nice. So I'm not sure about the wardrobe choice.
Arlee Bird said…
When I was in high school, one fall I got obsessed with grasshoppers. They were everywhere and came in nice sizes. I began catching them and keeping them. I don't know if I fancied myself as a keeper in a grasshopper zoo or what, but I would spend lengths of time just watching them and studying the amazing structure of their bodies. It was another instance of reaffirmation of the amazingness of God's creation.

The guy washing his car with the bathing trunks sounds so California. He must be a transplant from out here.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
I'm not a fan of grasshoppers, but they have their purpose, right?

Ahh, one of those CA transplants. That explains it. :)
Fun story, ending with a touch of randomness. Life is grand. :)
Deb Shucka said…
What a fun post to read. One of those days, right? And you've described in in a way that has me regarding grasshopper spit right alongside you.

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