Thursday, November 11, 2021

Veteran's Day

I was walking into the cafeteria with my cup of soup. A woman came walking out. She said, "Thank you Debby." 

I was a bit startled. She is not a woman that I interact with. As a matter of fact, I avoid her. She's a gossip. Moreover, she's a malicious gossip. She knows everyone, and her mind is a file of data on all of them.  She's got the kind of mind that connects people, and her favorite tactic is to talk about mutual acquaintances within earshot of you. She is waiting for you to join in the conversation, all the better to collect more information. Her son works on the ambulance crew, and the woman is a walking, talking HIPPAA violation, spewing personal information and names. She also catastrophizes everything. There is nothing so bad that she can't turn it into something worse. More often than not, it not even true. 

Those kind of people? I stay the heck away from them. I know that she'll talk non-stop, her sly little eyes darting left and right as she talks about people. 

Yet here we were. "Thank you, Debby." 

I stopped in my tracks and looked at her. 

She made a prompting motion "You're WELCOME?", staring at me, making it clear that I was extraordinarily rude. 

"What did I do?" I asked her. 

"You're a veteran, right? And it's veteran's day, right? So happy veteran's day!" 

"Thanks," I said, 

Nothing says gratitude like someone trying to make you feel like the bad guy. 

She didn't. 

I wasn't. 

I always wonder what makes a person be like that?

12 comments:

  1. So much truth here.

    I try now to avoid toxic people - or more generously put, to avoid people who are toxic to me, for I guess we are all different. Sadly, some members of my family fall into that category, and no matter how hard I have tried I end up feeling angry, undermined, undervalued or just plain anxious in their company... I could go on, but I don't need to because I have decided not to be impolite but never to put myself 'in the way' of these folk again. If that means I am distant then so be it, for getting close results only in pain.

    Great post by the way.

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  2. What I find fascinating about the whole thing is so strange. I see what she is, and I avoid her. Other people seem to be drawn to her. They seek her out and ask her about people because she knows stuff. They do get mad when the information turns out to be untrue, and you'll hear people complaining about her and how awful she is...but then...when they want to know something, they are right back listening while she whispers breathlessly, her eyes darting right and left, as if she's divulging state secrets. Such a strange dynamic.

    Yes. I've got people like that in my own family. I avoid them too.

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  3. Some people just have toxic vibes!

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  4. I never know where your anecdotes are going. I like how this one went.

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  5. There's some strange folk out there.

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  6. So the weasel woman's gratitude was ironic? A pretence? I didn't fully get it.

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  7. YP: Imagine that you are walking down the street and someone suddenly says "Thank you". You have no idea why, and she gets pissy and dramatic because you didn't automatically say, "You're welcome." It's a passive aggressive thing.

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  8. Oh dear… So could she have been trying to get on your good side? She sounds like someone you have to be on your guard with.

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  9. The woman does sound unpleasant, but it is really the son who is violating HIPPA.

    J

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  10. You are correct. They both are.

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