One of those days

Ever had one of those days when absolutely nothing goes right? It happened to me one day last week.

It began when I found a design I wished to use as an idea for one of my crewel designs and needed a piece of material that was a certain color.

The search began at one store — no luck there — so I headed for another where I found three that, while not exactly right, were close. There was another customer ahead of me getting six or seven pieces. The employee seemed to take forever to cut a yard at a time. Between each cutting she and the customer talked about friends, etc., and I was just about ready to scream.

Not known for my patience, I knew my son Doug would be waiting at the front of the store with his purchases. Just about when I was going to say something to the clerk, I looked sideways. There on another table, along with other pieces, was a remnant piece that was the exact shade I required. It cost all of $3.66. Enough, I thought watching the actions at that table.

I put the bolts of cloth against the counter, picked up the remnant and headed for the check out counter. Things got worse. In front of me there were two people getting purchases, an older lady and a young man. The older lady was checked out and paying her bill. She took out a couple of bills and then put back what looked like a dollar bill and began picking change from a change purse.

She needed 87 cents, or something like that. The young man looked at me and I rolled my eyes. He said something about well “she’s an older person.” I looked at her and wanted to tell him that I probably had 20 years on her, but that wouldn’t have been nice.

I got to remembering the time years ago in Fresno. It’s still hard for me to believe it. But honestly, this did happen.

Being courteous, I allowed a lady to get in front of me with her one item. When she went to pay she opened her purse, took out a mason jar and dumped a gazillion pennies on that counter. The item she bought was paid penny by penny and both the cashier and I were about ready to commit murder. It seemed like forever. Now back to this day.

Doug and I were headed to Fernley. He needed to buy something he couldn’t get here. On the way he said “how about stopping for a hamburger?” Who am I to argue? So we stopped, I had to use the restroom anyway. Entering the dining area, the waitress — who was standing waiting for Doug to order — looked at me and asked what I wanted. I hadn’t even opened the menu.

When I told her I needed a second — and I was nice, thank you — she huffed a little and headed away. We waited almost five minutes, by my watch, and she was still standing talking to the other waitresses by the kitchen. Upset, we headed out the door, Doug to a local fast food restaurant for his hamburger and I for my favorite Japanese lunch before we went to the local grocery.

They were having a special meat sale. Since the section holding what I wanted was empty, I pushed that little button and asked the butcher when there would be more of their special. You don’t want to know the attitude I got and his answer. It was so rude I turned and left. We got the other needed items my son had come for and headed home.

Before going to bed I decided to take a shower. I was just beginning to soap up my tired bones when the showerhead flopped down and hit the back wall. I had to lift it to get wet, then to rinse, then to do my hair. You get the picture. Finally, near midnight I found myself drifting off to sleep. Yeah sure. Suddenly there was this loud beeping sound like the smoke alarm makes.

Our dogs went into hysterics. We spent the next 20 minutes checking every smoke alarm in the house, to no avail. Then I realized it was the carbon monoxide unit we having sitting on a bookcase. It simply needed a new battery. It seemed like the next morning before we finally got to sleep. Thank goodness.

Edna Van Leuven is a Churchill County writer and columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com