So today, upon returning to my car from picking up a pizza (I know, I know...it doesn't happen often, so leave me alone), I noticed a cellphone on the ground in the parking lot. Upon picking it up, I got that strange "what if this belongs to a total jerk who would just accuse me of stealing it" kinda feeling...and why are other people's phones always greasy-feeling?
Anyway, I cleaned it off, took it back home, and called the first contact that looked promising.
"Dad".
Upon calling, this monotone-sounding guy answered by saying "what?"
We were not off to a good start.
However, after many minutes of explaining the situation, telling him my name, and having to convince him that his daughter wasn't tied up in my trunk, he gave me her email address, as well as the number to the cell itself, so I could leave a message for her to check remotely.
I did both, and within an hour she called my cellphone back, and we decided to meet in front of Target, since my place is confusing to navigate the parking lot, and she couldn't give me a good idea of her address. Don't ask me why.
So I drove to Target, and found her sitting outside with her friend/boyfriend/brother.
*HERE'S THE FUNNY BIT.
She said Hi, asked if I was Dann, and I said Yes, etc...
But no sooner than when I reached out to hand her the phone, then she extended one of her hands to take it, and the other to simultaneously hand me a 20 dollar bill.
Which I quickly denied.
I told her to keep it, and I just wanted her to have her phone back. She asked if I was sure, and I said definitely. They both thanked me, and said they would instead "take this as a gift of kindness" and use it for beer.
College kids.
Anyway, the whole point here is I know most people would just leave the phone on the ground, or be afraid to track the person down, much less call their friends and say "Ummm....Hi. I'm Dann Rafferty and I have your daughter's cellphone."
But this girl assumed that she needed to pay me for something that was already hers. I know in our society today, most people steal shit instead of returning it, but it seemed odd to me that she would do that. I guess it's logical with people today....but...I dunno. It's strange.
Can't someone just give something back to it's owner without pulling the "how much is it worth to you?" card?
I'm not belittling her. Far from it. I mean...she offered me 20 bucks!
But I guess aside from trying to be nice, it felt like she offered it so expediciously that she thought I would demand it.
That 5 minute span made me question humanity. Why are we so greedy? Why is money always the most important thing? I won't get all existentialist, but I wanted to say how I felt about it. There. Done.
This struck another short chord (very short, just thought of it now), about something the religious guy Joy was chatting with online about issues in the Bible. He said that Atheists have nothing to attach their morals to (i.e. the dude upstairs) so to them, killing people should be easy...they have no moral punishment, and no reason to do anything good. I wanted to message this guy and tell him to send me the picture of him eating his hat.
Besides, the last major thing I did for someone not related to me was the 20 bucks I gave to the homeless guy sitting by the expressway 2 years ago. So I was do for another.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What Would Jenny Do?
So Joy and I just had a wonderful run-in with Jenny. Would you like some background?
Jenny posted a bulletin on Myspace, siting a page where supposedly teachers were "brainwashing" children. Upon watching the videos, I retorted, praising the site for educating kids on what homosexuality is, and how it is involved in our lives.
The kids in the videos were smart and very knowledgeable, knowing when things were "prejudice" as one first-grader put it.
I replied in my own post, saying that the site was wonderful, not immoral, and I must admit, made a bash or two about Jen and her own teachings. However, she will advocate that the entire post was bashing her personally.
I get a call 2 hours later, demanding I recant the post, calling it "slander".
I declined.
Then, the 30 minute argument ensues, with her telling me that a T-Rex can be a vegetarian, despite its build (the whole claws, huge teeth and complex stomach system thing), just as a panda has teeth to eat bamboo. WTF.
We get to talking about the Creation "Museum", and she yells at me that I know nothing about her, and that "You have to look at the evidence. Not the evidence that people show you, but what you find for yourself."
To which I replied, "You have no evidence."
She said "What?"
I said "Dinosaurs have been found. We KNOW they were meat eaters. So what? You think it's wrong to teach children about homosexuality in schools, but you can tell a child that a 50 foot beast with razor-sharp teeth used them to open coconuts? (which is actually what the guides at the "museum" are told to tell you. It's on the review site)". She asks how I can know everything about dinosaurs. I said honestly, "I don't. But neither do you. And I can tell you for sure that a T-Rex wasn't given claws, a 50 foot build, massive muscles and teeth for eating ferns".
She called me arrogant. I was surprised it took that long.
She says it is something that could have happened that she and her family believe. Then she continues to how I know nothing about her again.
So Jen starts to tell me about the Bible, because I stated that it was her only source of "evidence". I told her that she glosses over parts of the Bible, while whole-heartedly believing others. She says "Like what?"
I said "Glad you asked. What about the verse about Lot in Genesis, about how a man cannot give his son to a stranger to have sex with him, but he should instead give the stranger his virgin daughters to 'do what you like with them'."
She says "What verse?"
I told her to hold on one sec, because Joy had pulled up the site earlier, and knew it better than I. Joy takes the phone and says, very calmly, "Hi Jenny, give me one sec, I know this verse better than Dann---"
Jen immediately cuts her off, saying "You stay out of this! Give the phone back to Dann!"
Joy tries to get in 2 words, informing Jen that she merely wants to read her the verse, like she ASKED for.
Jen begins to hurl accusations and screams at Joy, Joy pulls the phone away from her face, and I can hear her 3 rooms away. Jen then hangs up on Joy...who, at this point, has not even said an entire sentence yet.
Joy devastated, We call her back twice, once was me reading the verse, informing her that apparently raping your daughter is better than homosexuality.
The second was Joy, letting Jen know she had no reason to scream at her, especially before she even knew what Joy was going to say...which was the verse she asked for.
What is the moral here?
I don't really know. I don't think there is one. Fuck, this is how wars get started. If I had oil reserves in my backyard, they would've invaded me already.
So Dann may never see Noah and Sophia again. But I think I was prepared for that. Because in a few years, the 3 of us probably won't recogize each other anymore.
I haven't recogized Jenny for awhile. Same for Jason.
But they got over it. So I did too.
Yes, Dann and Jenny don't mix. She thinks I'm arrogant, I know she's blindfolded, and life continues. I, however, will remain comfortable in knowing that MY daughter will never be handed over to a strange dude on my porch in the middle of the night.
As for Jen...
Well...she never answered that question.
Jenny posted a bulletin on Myspace, siting a page where supposedly teachers were "brainwashing" children. Upon watching the videos, I retorted, praising the site for educating kids on what homosexuality is, and how it is involved in our lives.
The kids in the videos were smart and very knowledgeable, knowing when things were "prejudice" as one first-grader put it.
I replied in my own post, saying that the site was wonderful, not immoral, and I must admit, made a bash or two about Jen and her own teachings. However, she will advocate that the entire post was bashing her personally.
I get a call 2 hours later, demanding I recant the post, calling it "slander".
I declined.
Then, the 30 minute argument ensues, with her telling me that a T-Rex can be a vegetarian, despite its build (the whole claws, huge teeth and complex stomach system thing), just as a panda has teeth to eat bamboo. WTF.
We get to talking about the Creation "Museum", and she yells at me that I know nothing about her, and that "You have to look at the evidence. Not the evidence that people show you, but what you find for yourself."
To which I replied, "You have no evidence."
She said "What?"
I said "Dinosaurs have been found. We KNOW they were meat eaters. So what? You think it's wrong to teach children about homosexuality in schools, but you can tell a child that a 50 foot beast with razor-sharp teeth used them to open coconuts? (which is actually what the guides at the "museum" are told to tell you. It's on the review site)". She asks how I can know everything about dinosaurs. I said honestly, "I don't. But neither do you. And I can tell you for sure that a T-Rex wasn't given claws, a 50 foot build, massive muscles and teeth for eating ferns".
She called me arrogant. I was surprised it took that long.
She says it is something that could have happened that she and her family believe. Then she continues to how I know nothing about her again.
So Jen starts to tell me about the Bible, because I stated that it was her only source of "evidence". I told her that she glosses over parts of the Bible, while whole-heartedly believing others. She says "Like what?"
I said "Glad you asked. What about the verse about Lot in Genesis, about how a man cannot give his son to a stranger to have sex with him, but he should instead give the stranger his virgin daughters to 'do what you like with them'."
She says "What verse?"
I told her to hold on one sec, because Joy had pulled up the site earlier, and knew it better than I. Joy takes the phone and says, very calmly, "Hi Jenny, give me one sec, I know this verse better than Dann---"
Jen immediately cuts her off, saying "You stay out of this! Give the phone back to Dann!"
Joy tries to get in 2 words, informing Jen that she merely wants to read her the verse, like she ASKED for.
Jen begins to hurl accusations and screams at Joy, Joy pulls the phone away from her face, and I can hear her 3 rooms away. Jen then hangs up on Joy...who, at this point, has not even said an entire sentence yet.
Joy devastated, We call her back twice, once was me reading the verse, informing her that apparently raping your daughter is better than homosexuality.
The second was Joy, letting Jen know she had no reason to scream at her, especially before she even knew what Joy was going to say...which was the verse she asked for.
What is the moral here?
I don't really know. I don't think there is one. Fuck, this is how wars get started. If I had oil reserves in my backyard, they would've invaded me already.
So Dann may never see Noah and Sophia again. But I think I was prepared for that. Because in a few years, the 3 of us probably won't recogize each other anymore.
I haven't recogized Jenny for awhile. Same for Jason.
But they got over it. So I did too.
Yes, Dann and Jenny don't mix. She thinks I'm arrogant, I know she's blindfolded, and life continues. I, however, will remain comfortable in knowing that MY daughter will never be handed over to a strange dude on my porch in the middle of the night.
As for Jen...
Well...she never answered that question.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
