Kiss My Knits!

Somebody sent me a text message the other day wishing me luck talking to the guild. I didn’t get it until last night. It was a number I didn’t recognize from a non-local area code. Since I seldom get calls on my cell and I never get texts (have you seen my ancient phone?) it was very unusual and kind of neat.

However, basically, I got an anonymous message from a stranger on a number no one has, so you can see how it was unsettling – at least until I find out which of you did it. It was thoughtful, don’t get me wrong, but also kind of mysterious.

Soooo… who sent the message? It’s making me a little crazy. Fess up!

And speaking of unsettling, Em and I went to my father’s pool to swim yesterday. That wasn’t unsettling, it was great! We had a total blast! What was unsettling was what happened when some of the grownups around the pool lit up their cigarettes.

Em turned to me after a few minutes and asked, “Mind if I smoke?”

YES! YES I DO MIND!! (Note, I did not freak out like this at the time, as I didn’t want her to get a rise out of me.) She went off on a comedy bit about how she wanted to smoke cigarettes and cigarette butts, and one of her friends from school loved to eat cigarette butts, but since they were nasty she had a whole collection of gummi cigarette butts, and on and on and on.

This is exactly why the manager at Books-A-Million came over that one time and told the knitters to pipe down with the adult language. If there are kids nearby, they’re soaking up everything. You don’t even realize they’re doing it, but they are.

I don’t want to be the free speech/privacy/thought police, but as a parent, I will respectfully ask this. Look around before you do something stupid. I don’t want to have to explain to my kid AGAIN why somebody isn’t wearing their helmet when they ride a motor scooter or why that guy walking down the street is walking funny (Real answer: he’s drunk. Parent answer: “oh, look, I see a butterfly!). Jeez.

ETA: I exaggerate to make a humorous point. My daughter has never asked why someone is walking funny down the street. When we see people staggering, I think she just assumes something’s not quite right with their legs and accepts it without blinking. She knows folks are different and doesn’t think anything about it. Other things that she does ask about get a brief, “I know, she should have a helmet on. Isn’t that odd?” Further questions usually get a brief explanation with the capper, “sometimes people make bad choices” which she also understands.

As you may be able to tell, I haven’t had my coffee yet. I’ll go fix that now.