My dark side
Aren’t you glad that your life is not broadcast across TV for the entire world to see? I don’t think I’d be a very good reality TV star…especially yesterday.
It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take the kids to the park. As we walked towards the playground I noticed that every picnic table had been removed, except for one. The only table near the playground was occupied by a woman who was watching her granddaughter play. (At least, I assume it was her granddaughter.) She was smoking and enjoying her meal from McDonald’s. Josh and I took a seat on the ground and watched the kids play. A little while later, the woman called to the girl and they grabbed their backpacks and purse and walked away. I saw them walk down the pathway, over to the lake and cross the bridge. So, I took advantage of the now available seating at the picnic table. The problem is that this woman left some of her McDonald’s garbage on the table. So, I picked up her trash, threw it in the garbage and sat down at the picnic table. When I picked up the cups…I noticed they were still full and I thought it was odd that they didn’t drink their drinks. Maybe they left them at the table for a homeless person to find? Weird.
This was my assumption…my side of the story. (And I’m still sticking to it…by the way.)
A few minutes later, I smelled cigarette smoke. My eyes got big and I turned to Josh and asked, “Is she coming back?” He subtly glanced back and said, “Yep!” I said, “Oh no…is she going to beat me up?” He laughed at me.
I overheard the woman say to the little girl with a very indignant tone, “Somebody threw away our drinks!” I didn’t know what to do…I just pretended I didn’t hear her. She made a show of walking over to the trash and looking inside it before turning to me to ask why I would do such a thing. I replied that I thought she had left. She impatiently said, “We just took a little walk and planned to come right back.” I apologized and sat there in awkward silence until she left in a huff.
I’m still embarrassed about it. Who knew that placing disposable fast-food cups on a public picnic table in a public park meant that the table was reserved and that the owner of the cups planned to return? I must’ve missed that day in my social etiquette class. Oh, wait a minute…I’ve never taken an etiquette class. Maybe I should put that on my to-do list
