(I am in a grocery self-scan queue behind an older woman and a younger woman — mother and daughter. The daughter is trying to explain to the mother how self-scanning works.)
Daughter: *earnestly* “Now you have to find the barcode on the box. It’s usually on the top, or the bottom, or one of the sides.”
(Very helpful…)
(I have always been clumsy and I sometimes lack common sense; I don’t think before I do. At age 19, I want to move out on my own since I have the money. My parents say okay, but they basically handle a lot of the setting up and so on. Once I move, they continue to check in all the time, taking care of things. Soon, the air conditioner breaks. A week later, they come over to check and help me buy a new one.)
Dad: “So, let’s measure the space, and let’s have a look at buying one that fits.”
Me: “No need. I already have one.”
Dad: “Oh, you bought one yourself already? Wow.”
Mom: “Well, let’s see it.”
Me: “Surprise! Here it is.”
Dad: *seeing the old air conditioner exactly as it was* “I thought you said you got a new air conditioner.”
Me: *points to container on the floor with a fan and pipe sticking out*
Dad: “What’s that?”
Me: “My air conditioner. I made it, with help from the Internet.”
(My parents stopped trying to check in on me so often and let me handle things on my own more. I haven’t yet made anything else similar after that, though. I did eventually get an actual air conditioner because I was clumsy enough to spill and slip on icy water.)
(I’ve just walked in to start my shift at a restaurant, and as I’m tilling in to my register, I overhear a mother and her young daughter talking.)
Daughter: “Why do we have to wait for our pizza?”
Mom: “They have to make it from scratch.”
Daughter: “That shouldn’t take so long!”
Mom: “It does! I made you from scratch!”
(Like most toddlers, my daughter loves playing with keys. I usually try to deter her from taking my husband’s set — which includes his work keys and parking fob — too far away, by telling her they’re important. She has gotten some new toys from a relative while being babysat at my sister-in-law’s house. One of the toys is a plastic car key with a fake button fob.)
Daughter: “Where’s key?”
Sister-In-Law: “I don’t know; I think it was over there a little while ago.”
Daughter: “It’s important! “
(She then walked out of the room, repeating that it was important. Well played, little parrot.)
(I am folding laundry just as my mother arrives, and I am about to fold a king-sized fitted sheet. One thing I brought away from working retail in bed-linen is the knowledge of how to fold fitted sheets. Mum quietly watches as I take moments to fold it neatly before putting it down on the table.)
Mum: “Wow, I’ve never seen that done before. I was waiting for you scream, swear, and then screw the sheet up like I do.”
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