I had an unnerving encounter with a whack-job today

[darkstar]

I'm at the Target in Belleville, Il. today wearing the same hat as above. We were done shopping and my wife was picking up prescriptions. I'm waiting, just idly leaning on my cart.

A guy I'd seen earlier from a distance in the store, but had not so much as nodded at or made eye contact with, came up behind me, placed his hand on my shoulder and said "You know there is a reason New Orleans was destroyed."

I was stunned and just watched him hurry away to rejoin his wife. It seems he had made a special effort to tell me this.

Ms Darkstar and I moved up here from Lafayette, LA after the storms. We were very lucky and I don't talk about it here much b/c I don't want to give the impression that we went through near the sort of hell many folks on this board went through. But I did work on wetlands preservation and New Orleans flood issues, including things such as increased funding for levee analysis and increased pump capacities and wrote lots about the potential problem pre-Katrina.


So this left me deranged and kind of trembly, in a completely strange state of anger (at him) and despair (for the human race) and feeling of failure (at not making things better).

To top it off, I failed counter this random negative with a cosmic positive. A young woman with a Grateful Dead insignia on her purse came through the checkout not 2 minutes later, struggling with her rambunctious 2-3 year old holding her hand. I smiled at her and quoted a reasonably popular GD lyric: We will survive. And she just kind of scowled at me and tugged harder at her kid.

A sad day all around, eh?

:hi:

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. darkstar...

I had no idea that you moved from LA.

I'm glad you posted that you had... and just the fact that the storms forced you to move is a traumatic, life changing experience.

As far as what happened to you today...just look at it a random senselessness. My friends will tell you that my entire life, I have been a magnet for, shall we say, "interesting" people.

I once had a lady keep "meowing" at me on a bus. She then followed myself and my friend to a restaurant, ordered a saucer and a glass of milk, poured the milk into the saucer, and lapped it up. :rofl:

You never know who you are going to find out there my friend...

[darkstar]

2. Thanks, philboy

Just to be clear, the storms didn't force us to move the way they did some folks. It's just that things go to be way to much with my commute to Baton Rouge, the politics of blame, the house repairs, etc. I was seeing pressure from all sides to shade recovery reports and my wife had been wanting to move for a bit, so things all just came to a head for us the following spring when I said no more.

Strange thing, you see the fleur de lis all over the place in nearby St. Louis, too, what w/ it's French history and all.

But what shitty behavior for a "Dead Head", eh? I thought, let's turn this frown upside down, yada yada yada.

thanks for the reply, brother man....

:hug:

[LeftyFingerPop]

3. "Dead Head"

What may have happened today...you may have encountered one of those folks who wear the clothes, but don't share the spirit. :hug:

[Brigid]

4. C'mon, admit it . . .

you made that up. :P

[LeftyFingerPop]

6. I'm not kidding...

It turns out that she was known locally as the "cat woman".

She used to wear these long dresses with high heels, and she was probably in her 50's back then.

I used to see her around once in awhile, and she used to run really fast in those heels.

She thought she was a cat.

errr....."kitteh"

[Pierre.Suave]

10. You too?

Damn, I am also a magnet for "interesting" people.

I get sick of it sometimes. Totally random people come up to me and tell me the strangest stuff, or do strange things. I am boycotting the buses right now because of it.

[Brigid]

5. Yes, this must have been very upsetting for you.

It's incredible how stupid people can be. And it only seems to be getting worse. :(

[darkstar]

8. it was completely, utterly random and mean

thanks for the reply.

:hi:

[av8rdave]

7. It's probably better you didn't converse with him

As one of my military colleagues used to say, "you can't win an argument with an idiot."

I know a guy who uses rationalizations like that - he can't stand the idea that the Administration actually f$#@ed up, so he needs to make it all better with fantasy.

[darkstar]

9. this was so random

that I was unable to respond.

I wish I could tell you it was the discretion/valor thing, but it wasn't.

:hi:

[SeattleGirl]

11. What a whackadoodle!

Filled with hate, I'm sure.

[SPKrazy]

12. strange

indeed

are you in possession of knowledge that the government knew and did nothing?

or is he just some psycho and you had some insignia on a jacket or something indicating Louisiana.

I'm beyond paranoid sometimes about things so I may be way way way off.

He just looks like some kind of thuggish fellow.

:pals:

[darkstar]

13. hahaha

I'm the thuggish guy above. That's me with the hat I was wearing today. So yes, he saw it, I suppose.

Sorry if I was confusing.

Good to see you....

:pals:

[SPKrazy]

14. Oh, probably not really confusing to anyone else

I am starting to finally feel the effects of my ambien I think

you are a saints fan so now it makes sense

here i was getting all tinfoil hat on you

:rofl: