Snippets, then and now

When I was in grade school, I had a reputation for being rather *ahem* serious. Better than saying I was totally dour and refused to have fun. At any rate, the kids in my various grades would take it upon themselves to try to make me laugh, or at least crack a smile. Sometimes I'd have 20 or so of them gathered around me making faces or saying things to try and get a rise out of me. Sadly for them, I remained the undisputed champion of not smiling. Pigheadedness wins again. Yay?

Patrick and I were at a grocery store a few days ago, and as we were leaving, this woman with a clipboard asked if we were registered voters. (Yes, this is where that bulletpoint in the previous list came from.) I said yes, because usually that shuts them up. Patrick has a better method, which involves ignoring them, but I was hoping it would make her happy and then I could continue on my way unmolested. BUT NO.

She continued on, asking me if I'd heard about Political Thingy X (I blocked this out), and I turned back toward her and said, "I'm sorry, but we really have to go home." She kept talking for some reason after I said that and had started walking away, continuing until she'd gotten to the end of her spiel, then broke off, and after we got far enough away, I started vocalizing my displeasure to Patrick:

Me: I can't believe that. They just ACCOST you outside of the store and start telling you about their stupid thing. At 9pm on a Sunday. REALLY? All that's going to do is make me furious, and then I'll vote against it just to spite her. Actually, just thinking about it, I'm really mad. How dare she bother me with that garbage when I'm tired and just want to go home!

Patrick: I know, there's no one out on a Sunday. It's really stupid. Try not to think about it, honey.

Me: NO! I HAVE TO GO BACK AND KILL HER!

Patrick: No you don't, come on.*drags me off toward the car*

Needless to say, I didn't go back and murder her. Patrick is probably the only thing standing between me and a felony conviction. (Mom, I'm kidding. I won't really kill people.) But I was really pissed off. I don't want to hear about your stupid cause ever, but particularly not after a 6-mile hike when it's getting late on a Sunday evening. Whoever thought this was a great way to get people to care about political bullshit is a moron.

Back to when I was little: for a while in sixth grade (10-11 years old) I was very interested in making jewelry out of various things, like beads, bows, hot glue, these melty strip things that turned sort of iridescent in the heat. Anyway, I had a case full of them, and sometimes when I had very little to do at school I'd bring them with me to work on. A bunch of kids showed interest in them, and by charging a quarter or two per piece (or pair of earrings), I made a decent bit of money. I also offered free repairs! This continued merrily until one of the adminstrators told me that I wasn't allowed to run a business out of the school. Aren't these people supposed to be encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit in the young? Evidently not.