I was doing a lot of driving today, one destination being above, the North Springs MARTA station. You can see some more of that virus art installation up there on the wall in the picture above, just above the staircase. Anyway, I was with Nana there today to pick up George from the airport. And he did arrive, and we left and all was well. But something highly amusing to us took place in between that time.
Be sure to go to the North Springs MARTA station, and ask to use the bathroom there without having to pay for an actual ride on MARTA.
Context: Blood pressure medication and treatment requires suggested gallon of water per day. Lots of traffic and travel time down 400. This is an exit off of 400, only accessible by people in cars who want to use MARTA. The nearest other bathroom was miles away. We were waiting for my brother-in-law at the station.
ANYWAY, I asked the lady there if there was a bathroom. She said it was inside the gate, and she said you had to pay for a ticket in order to get in there. So I asked her where the nearest tree was, as a joke. I know: It wasn’t funny.
She told me to use a white phone by the gate to call someone and they would help. So I used the white phone by the gate, and that person said they said they’d send someone there right away. Ah! Relief filled my heart!
Enter the hero of our story! This guy walked all the way from his office - or wherever - to me. And I was thinking, okay, the bathroom is there. I can see it, fifteen feet away. Relief is just fifteen feet away! He’ll just escort me in there like a human being and then escort me back. Sorry for the inconvenience. Oh, no problem, this happens from time to time, and you’re customers.
So he arrived, and then proceeded to tell me that in fact, I would have to purchase a ticket on MARTA to use the restroom there.
I listened to him continue to explain that his position at MARTA was at risk for simply entertaining such a thought as letting us use that bathroom, and that he is not technically an officer but a guardian of this area, a vigilant gatekeeper there to protect the citizens of MARTA and so on. So I said, “Literally, during the time you spent sharing that with me, you could have just escorted me over there to the bathroom, fifteen feet away, waited there a moment, and came back.” At which point - and I’m not making this up - he jerked his whole head back, stepping backwards about three dramatic steps towards the gate. He said, “Go ahead! You want to put my job at risk so you can use the restroom, then be my guest!”
I couldn’t help but smile at all of this. You would too, because it was so over the top! This would be a bigger mistake, of course, because naturally he assumed that I was "laughing in his face." I’m just going to insert here that he must have a lot of people laughing in his face, because this was honestly one of the funniest overreactions I’ve ever witnessed. It was as if I was asking a seven-year-old to do something they didn’t want to do. He wasn’t violently angry or anything, but rather had this resigned overacting vibe going on, throwing his hands up in the air, accusing me and my mother-in-law of a level of disrespect that is generally only given to fascist dictators or super villains. We must be truly awful people in our hearts, capable of even worse deeds, like smirking at overbearing TSA agents or new seasonal house decorations rules from the HOA.
Seeing how gravely I offended him, I made the mistake of explaining how it was in fact the situation that was funny, and that I wasn’t - as he said again, “laughing in his face.” But he was not having that explanation, of course, because he is obviously a millennial. I didn’t think people who could be that offended at pretty much everything really existed, but apparently they do.
As I was in the bathroom, I could literally hear him going on and on and on with my mother-in-law about how offended he was, and how wronged he was, as if I had personally insulted his entire family lineage. If you’re a MARTA employee, go ahead and check the security footage. I just smiled. I swear! So I got out of the bathroom, and bless her heart, my mother-in-law spent the majority of this conversation completely confused as to what was going on. She was right there and didn’t know what was going on, but sitting there pleasantly smiling and inwardly feeling very sorry for this poor MARTA employee.
I was confused too, so I literally interrupted him and said, “Look, I’m sorry.” Translation: please go away. He next went on to say how he was waiting for me to use all kinds of bad language on him like others do, as if this were some sort of sting operation. I felt like the entire thing was some sort of act all along, as if he were trying to get us offended or angry or something. But truthfully, it was kind of funny. And confusing too, of course.
I recommend this experience to anyone who has a chance!
So George is here, and we all went to see Madison together as she was sparring and swinging around her sword for leadership. She has a great time!
You can see the whole gang there watching together. It was a busy day - lots of moving to and fro. But we all wound up together at the end of the evening, watching a Christmas special by the tree, relaxing for a few minutes.
Madison studied for a social studies test tomorrow, and was practicing her piano some more for the recital coming up. She's doing well in all things, and we're proud of her!
This morning, Jingle Bell brought another gift - he brought one earlier this month too. They're both some "Mandalorian" ornaments for the Star Wars tree, and they're both hanging on the tree now. One is a Baby Yoda, or Grogu, and the other is the Mandalorian himself.
It's usually pretty cool inside the office. Coincidentally, we've had a virtual fireplace going on the television all day long with some nice Christmas music playing. We've been trying some different fireplaces throughout the week - there's even a Hobbit-themed one, and a Star Wars one, as well as a Perry the Platypus one too. We're becoming virtual fireplace connoisseurs.
Anyway, after reading from Narnia and prayers tonight, we were off to sleep in warmth, in some nice blankets.
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