Bloggers, its been awhile .....I've been on the road quite a bit this past month and have failed you in the updates.... so here we go...
I spent Cinco de Mayo in Tupelo at an Outback Steakhouse (solo) with about 5 grungy (sp?) men. I had a long day (12 hour day to be exact) on the road and was determined to celebrate (Cinco de Mayo) with a cocktail. Like most of you I'm sure, I do not like eating at restaurants by myself, I just feel so out of place. The only reason I chose Outback was because it was across the street from my hotel and my plan was to have several "toddys" and walk back. THIS DID NOT PAN OUT.
When I arrived at Outback, the line was out the door, which didn't make since to me..its Cinco de Mayo, shouldn't everyone be at the Mexican restaurants? Whatever.... I knew my wait wouldn't be too long since I was dining solo. The lady told me 15-20 mins so I quickly opted for the bar. MISTAKE.
My wedding rings (which is another story) sat at Juniker Jewelers and my husband in Jackson, so....to all the local grungy after work drinkers....I'm a single business woman eating/drinking at the bar in hopes of picking one of them up...not quite!
I stayed on the phone with my mom majority of the meal and talked "shopping" with the gay bartender while two creepers came and sat next to me. Check please! Only one beer down, meal 1/2 eaten, I was ready to jet. These guys were totally harmless but it was weird being in the bar area with 6 men while I ate and drank alone (looking single). ha. Not to mention, they held weird conversations and it made me uncomfortable!
The next morning, I had 4 property inspections at low income apartment complexes.....usually I would meet with a property manager or something but for some reason, none get to work before 10 so for my first few visits, I didn't have an escort. I thought, this is completely fine with me, i'll be done quicker. Again, this didn't "pan out". While I was walking around taking pictures, Ethel (an 88 yr old grandma of 7) walks out to see what i'm doing and preceeds to tell me where shes from, why she moved to New Albany, where her grown children lived, how she wishes the town had sidewalks everywhere, etc.
Out of her 3 grown (60 something) children and 7 grandchildren...NONE of them keep in touch with her. It was so sad hearing her tell stories about all of them. Ethel moved to New Albany to be closer to her children after her husband passed. Since she has lived here (going on 5 years) she has seen her children/grandchildren less than a hand-full of times. What could their excuse be? This baffles me. Seriously.
Ethel and I chatted for about 45 mins. Before I left, i had all intentions of getting her address so that we could stay in touch (send letters, etc) but while I walked off to take more photos, she got in her car (which she said she was soo happy to still be driving, at 88) and took off.
Poor Ethel, I do pray for her and I sure hope her family does a better job of staying in touch with her and checking on her because like she said "most of us are lucky to ever even see 80!" and here she is still driving at 88!
All of you, be thankful for your parents, grandparents and great-grands if you still have them around. Take every opportunity you can to visit with them and show your love---there are so many out there that dont have families that give a damn...so sad=(
That particular week, I spent 3 days in LOTS of small towns around West Point, Tupelo and Corinth MS. I visited 2 retirement centers, a public library, 5 low income apartment complexes, a shower/tub manufacturer (very very cool process), a furniture manufacturer and some other neat places.
Tomorrow morning I leave for the coast for a few days. On this trip I'm visiting 6 mini-marts (aka gas stations), a golf course, 2 restaurants, an internation welding company, wholesale furniture warehouse, shrimp plant (I dread this visit, it stinks REALLY bad) and a commercial real estate firm. Wish me safe travels!
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