Bits From Today

* I delivered a mattress to a house in Santa Rosa which had a couch, a hospital bed, and a regular bed. That was the extent of the furniture. A Mexican family lived there, and no one spoke very much English. I was having trouble communicating the fact that I couldn't lift the patient out of bed. Not my job. Not insured for that sort of thing. So the guy I was talking to lifts up the phone to call, I don't know, somebody, and just as he does 5 people walk through the door, one of whom spoke English. I explained, through her, the situation, and so all 6 of them piled into the bedroom and shut the door. 10 minutes later the door opens, the lady is in her wheelchair, and everyone piles out. How's that for team work?

* At Costco today I tried to talk on a cell phone while carrying a 24 pack of yoghurt, a box of toothbrushes, and a 24 pack of bar soap. I had to hang up. I guess it makes sense that they don't offer those little baskets at Costco. But being a guy, I never use a cart. What's the use? I'm only buying 3 things. The problem is that they are Costco sized things.

* In the next line over a woman frantically waved a gigantic package of tampons to get the attention of an errant family member. It worked, but at what cost?

* The man in front of me in line talked to everyone about everything. Subjects covered during the 5 minutes I stood near him:
- Whether the man in front of him was speaking Tagalog.
- Difficulty of learning Tagalog as compared with that of learning English.
- Languages which he has studies but never mastered.
- The flatness of flat screen TVs.
- Using the flat-bed Costco carts as apposed to the regular style carts.
- The placement of the check stand near a structural pillar.
- The benefits and usefulness of having a paypal account.
- The origin of paypal.
- How to use paypal.

I think there were more, but I started looking at a girl at the Photo counter.

Luckily none of this was directed at me. But the most painful part of it all was the fact that he would start each of these subjects with an intentionally off-handed comment designed to spark a conversation. And when each comment inevitably didn't spark the expected conversation, he would launch into it anyway in such a one-sided manner that it made me contemplate finding another line.

It seems that the 24 pack of soap is antibiotic, and that the 24 pack of yogurt has active cultures. I wonder if the yogurt is intimidated by the soap. Or maybe the soap is bolstered by the fact that it contains aloe. No one messes with aloe.