Yesterday in Walmart I looked at a mischievous looking old woman

and asked her, "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Sharp old woman. She snapped back "WHO say's I'm a nice girl!" and not only did we share a laugh but I got to see a look of horror on her daughter's face when she discovered her mother had a pretty outrageous sense of humor tucked away.

It's not all fun and games, though. It can backfire and you gotta own it.

One time a few years back I had a seemingly happy old woman behind me in line and I was looking at a tabloid with a bikini clad lovely on it.

I looked at the old woman behind me, pointed at the picture and asked her, "Is that really you?"

Her face lit up, she smiled the most wonderful smile and replied, "My husband used to do things like that to me..." Suddenly she burst into tears and practically collapsed and said, "And now he's gone!"

I took her in my arms and gave her a shoulder to cry on. It was time to step up to the plate and I knew that if I didn't I'd have to go through life bearded because I'd never be able to face myself in the mirror to shave ever again. 

I knew exactly what had happened. She had very recently buried her husband, the love of her life and father of their three children.

That little trooper had gone through his death, funeral and burial of the man she loved without so much as a sniffle and kept it all bottled up and finally the dam burst.

She buried her head in my shoulder and sobbed and I could feel her body just shake as she sobbed her eyes out for probably a good 45 minutes as her three adult children stood by helplessly. I just let her cry herself out.

Finally she cried herself out and looked at me sheepishly and thanked me. I grinned and said to her, "I still think you're that pretty girl I saw in the picture."

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and I handed her off to her kids.

Yeah, maybe I did trigger her but if I didn't someone else would have. I'm glad if was me because someone else probably would not have stepped up to the plate. I'm glad I did.

I'm going to shave in a few minutes and when I do I'm going to look proudly at the guy I see in the mirror. If I had not owned it I would not be able to.

 

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY