So given the amount of focus on things that we can be angry or upset about, or how we have been wronged or abused.... I thought it was time for a bit of a change.
How about sharing some FUN experiences?!! Ok, I will start. I promised, in my opening post the other day, that I would share some that have happened over the years. Here's a real one you may get a kick out of:
Picture the scene: Mrs Harper and I are are ready for Field Service, its a Saturday, some 20 years ago. We are young, care-free, and always trying to live up the expectations of others. We have always been easy-going, hard to ruffle, giving, ..... you get the idea.
For whatever reason, we seem to attract the misfits in the congregation. Not in a bad way, just that we are not judgmental, or callous, we just want everyone to have a fair shake. So here we are, just kids in our early 20's, meeting for another day of Field service.....
Groups are made, We are put together with another couple, friends of ours, and a straggler.... we will call her Sister C. (the C will be for CRAZY!). Now, no disrespect to anyone, but please understand for a minute that this gal was truly crazy, in the sense that she lost a couple of screws along the way, and whatever was rattling around inside her skull was working about half the time...
Background: she was older than us, must have been in her 40's at the time, she lived with her mom, who was equally mentally deficient. No, for reals. I am truly surprised that they could find their way home at the end of the day.
So it was us, the other couple, and Sister C, packed into our little SUV. Now mind you, Sister C was a piece of work. Everyone knew that to take her with you was in itself a challenge! I am sure we got extra bonus points for just that.......Which, in retrospect, is why no one usually was quick to volunteer to take her along.
But hey, we were young, and up for the challenge! So between us and the other couple, a quick pact was made...... keep Sister C busy talking, or at least distracted enough so that she wouldn't lick the windows or eat crumbs from the floormats, or scratc personal parts that didn't need to be scratched in public! (you think I'm kidding....).
So here we are, giggling to ourselves, having fun in the moment. Midway thru the morning, time for the customary "BREAK" time..... we had all been discussing the desire for a good premium Root Beer or Vanilla Creme, like a Thomas Kemper, A&W, you know the ones, they come in dark bottles, not cans or out of the fountain. True goodness in a bottle............ And so it was decided..
We rip in and stop for a bit at a 7-11, I think. We all go in, part ways to obtain our choice of beverages and snacks to get us thru the monotony of the remainder of our morning.
Within a few minutes, we gather outside on the sidewalk, all of us have a little paper bag of delectible delightful sugary snacks and such, we climb in the car, and off we go.
Now I am driving, I have a nice cold bottle of Root Beer, Mrs. Harper has a Cream Soda, the other couple has similar items. I notice a smell...... slightly off.....can't quite place it............. familiar, yet........... something isnt quite right. No matter,............... off we go, back to the territory.
.
Then, I glance in the rearview mirror, and I see it.
Sister C has her paper bag. It seems suddenly larger than it should be. Hmm.... that's odd......
WAIT FOR IT, DONT GET AHEAD OF ME !!!
Peeking out over the top of the paper bag is her brown bottle........... and just peeking out of the very top of the paper bag, on the bottle.......... is............ a .................... logo...............
BUDWEISER.
NOOOOOO !!!!!! We all shriek in abject terror at the same time! The ultimate sin has just been committed! She gives us the return look of complete, unknowing horror! What have we done?! What has SHE done!? She is confused, terrified in fact!!! I resist the overwhelming urge to spit chunks of cookie across the windshield, steer the car to a screeching halt in front of a school, and we all sit there speechless, waiting for lightning to strike, or hell's doors to open in front of us. Surely SATAN himself will open the drivers door and personally escort me to my new place at his side!
After our hearts begin beating again, and we all check for wet spots and cops..............We politely explain to the confused gal the error of her ways, and she begins to understand, at least a little bit, in her own way... Apparently, all she heard in our conversation during the morning was BEER, mmmmmm BEER . hehe he gotta love it.
Oh Lordy.
At any rate, we hot-footed it back to base (the KH), quickly called the elder Sister C to come get her now slightly inebriated little one, and went on our merry ways!
Even to this day, some 20+ years later, Mrs Harper and I sometimes get a couple of bottles of really good Root Beer, clink the bottles in a toast for the day (ya, I know, right. ), and wink at each other!
The lesson for today? Be ready, life will hand you a funny moment when you least expect it..... cherish it.
OK, now its your turn......... keep it light and humorous!
Yours, Jack Harper