A Day of Frustrations

I’m wondering if Mercury is in retrograde today. Everything we start out to do meets with frustration and delay, along with snippy comments from strangers.

Elyn and I were in line at Whole Foods (locally known as “whole paycheck”) waiting to check out. There was a young mother ahead of us who was trying to get her groceries together while taking care of a toddler. The kid had picked up an apple and started eating it while the mother wasn’t looking. When the checkout clerk tried to scan it there was no label. The mother grabs the kid and runs back to the produce department to get a sticker while we wait. She returns and the transaction is completed. Now she has to write a check, which takes her eyes off the kid for a second or two, in which time the kid is running back into the store. Elyn’s mother instinct kicks in and she corrals the kid. The mother comes up and tells her in no uncertain terms to “take your hands off my child.” Now, as a male, I would have let the kid go, knowing how males are thought of in the US. But Elyn is really rattled and angry at the mother’s response. I can only think that this is another example of how fear based this culture has become.

The day seems to have progressed from there. We were to have registered voters for the Obama campaign from 11 am to 2 pm. When we arrived at the headquarters there was only a small sign with a phone number and no indication of the new address. We called and got a message. After some confusion, we found the new location, but they hadn’t unloaded their stuff yet and had no voter registration signs. We gave up on that venture. I am reminded of the famous quote of Will Rogers (younger people won’t even know the name but you can Google it): “I belong to no organized political party—I’m a Democrat.” The campaign is run by bright-eyed, idealistic youngsters in their 20s. It is too much to expect them to be professional political organizers. They are just getting their feet wet with this campaign. We were pissed for awhile and there was a long “mea culpa” message on our phone when we got home, so we’ll give the kids a break and try again. The campaign just called again on Elyn’s cell phone and a second apology is under way as I type.