Travel Rant: Be weird, but be nice
You meet some funny folks when you are on the road, that’s for sure.
Granted, people probably find me a bit eccentric that I have such strong opinions about such things as composting toilets and could tell you the subtle differences, by year, of vintage GMC motorhomes. But at the end of the day, when I am boring the camper parked next to me about solar systems (not the kind with stars), I always try to be nice.
This is not always the case, whether on the road or not. Case in point: we had just pulled into the Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon. Tired and looking to get out of the rig, we wandered into the tiny town where there was a little souvenir shop. There wasn’t really much of interest except the ice cream my daughter destroyed. As I paid the purveyor of frozen treats, I noticed something a bit odd across the store.
Was it a pirate here in Utah?
No, there was no hook, no merry drinking songs. But there was a mean scowl. Hmmm.
But don’t pirates usually have parrots or monkeys on their shoulders (Pippi reference for my kid)?
Suffer’n succotash, this pirate was sporting a fat Tabby on her shoulder. Seriously, check out the pic below. This lady had a large cat perched up on her shoulder. Weird, yes. Something my mom might do – also, yes. While I am indeed a dog person, having a cat on one’s shoulder isn’t what bothered me. It was the fact that every adult and child that made a fuss… “Oh mommy, look – that lady has a cat on her shoulder” was met with an angry scowl and a “Please don’t touch my cat”.
This woman was obviously seeking attention by having a house cat the size of a Lynx perched on her shoulder. Why be a jerk about it? I can only imagine her husbands suffering.
#rantover
