Last night, just like every other Sunday night, I went to my cousin's house to watch Dexter. A few weeks ago, my mother came home with a surprise for me: something I was "going to love and be thankful for." When she revealed that while she'd been out to pay the cable bill, she added Showtime, HBO, and many other channels to our listing, I just raised my eyebrows in surprise. I'm already quite suspicious of my mother and her schemes, which usually always involve a plot to someway somehow get money, so I questioned her, "You do know that even though we have Showtime now, I still have to go to Dustin's to watch Dexter, yeah?" Well, apparently she didn't like this very much. See, my mother and I share a car. From her point of view, I take it all the time - even though I always ask if she needs it before hand - and run all over "God knows where" with it. While this is perhaps true, I at least do things worth while when I'm driving it. And yes, I am quite aware that 'worth while' is very much a point of view, but just keep reading. I use the car to go to my cousin's once - perhaps twice - a week, and sometimes end up staying there longer than I had originally intended. Now, I understand why she would be upset about this because while I'm over at my cousin's with the car, she is stuck at home with very little to do, unless one of her two friends that have cars - which are mostly always not in working order - come get her.
I also use the car to go shopping, hang out with friends, etc. etc. Normal things that normal people do with cars, but she uses it to drive six miles to get her friend Audrey when her car is not working - which as I said earlier, is rarely ever running - and take her all over "God knows where." Sometimes, she'll take Audrey to work, which is ten miles away from where she lives. Then, my mother will come home, wait until Audrey gets off work, then go pick her up and take her back home. So, six miles to pick her up, ten miles to take her to work, eight miles back home, eight miles back to get her, ten miles to take her back home, and finally six miles to drive herself back home. Let's get a sum, shall we? 6 + 10 + 8 + 8 + 10 + 6 = 48. So, on any given day that she does this, which can be upwards of three times a week, my mother drives forty-eight miles, and she has the nerve to tell me that I put wear and tear on the car. Psh.
Anyway, as I was saying: when I arrived at my cousin's house, a man in his mid-twenties - whom at first glance I could have sworn was Marshall Mathers - was walking across his yard. I thought this was a bit odd, but then I thought that perhaps it was one of my cousin's friends, coming to visit him. I was wrong. As soon as I exited my car, the man came up to me. Of course, I was a bit frightened, but I stood my ground. He began talking to me, and right away I knew it was a sales pitch of some sort. He said he was from Oklahoma and was trying to win a trip to Australia. To be polite - or more because I just don't know how to say no - I listened to his entire pitch and answered any questions he asked about me.
He asked me if I was in college. I lied and said that I was only because just last week, I was, and I do intend to go back, but that's a different story. He asked in what I was majoring, and I replied, "Well, I was majoring in Sociology, but I'm switching my major to Marine Biology," to which he replied, "So you wanna work in the water?" I said that I did and explained that I wanted to specialize with orca. To this, his ignorance came out. His face lit up and said, "Oh cool, so those are dolphins, right?" Wrong. I kindly corrected him, but was rolling my eyes in my mind. Sorry, but who has ever heard of an orca dolphin? Seriously?
Edit: So apparently, orca are a species of dolphin and not whale. What do you know, white boy did know a thing or two after all. Now I feel incredibly stupid, seeing as I want to go into Marine Biology and work with orca. I am so entirely stupid.
Anyway, he asked me to pick out two magazines I thought looked interesting. I picked Spin and Vegetarian Times. At the very end, he held up a piece of paper and said, "See your total?" It was $80. I asked if the bill would be mailed to my house, but he said that it was a pay-up-front deal. I told him I didn't have any money on me, which was true, and said that perhaps my cousin did. I was ready to be done with this dude. Finally, I got inside and my cousin went out and shooed him away. He - my cousin - proceeded to tell me that someone had already been by doing the same thing. We laughed, then settled in to watch Dexter: the series, not his dog.
So, as always, we ended up staying up until 2:30 in the morning. It felt like I'd only slept an hour or so when I woke up to see that it was 10 o'clock. I promised my mom that I'd be home by eleven, so I rushed around his house getting all of my things together, then walked outside to see it was raining. I huffed, but trudged through the wet grass to my car regardless. It's about a thirty minute drive home, including speed limits and traffic lights/signs. It wasn't raining very hard, but enough that one should use their windshield wipers. I, however, did not because I found that I could see through the rain just fine. I figured, why waste power? I clearly remember thinking how beautiful the world looks through clear glass streaked with rain. Everything is slightly distorted, just like my life. It felt comforting in a way, to know that perhaps being broken, being distorted is natural.
And I know, even if I could see pretty well, I should have turned the wipers on. That's what they're there for, but I'm not really concerned for my own safety so much. I suppose that seems sort of depressing, but looking back, I cannot recall a time in my life when I have been. While driving, I practically always go at least five miles per hour over the speed limit. I wear my headphones, which has almost caused me to block an ambulance and a police car twice. I bearly stop at stop signs. Yeah, there's probably more things that I do that are unsafe and just don't even think about it.
So, when I got home, I grabbed my stuff, unlocked the door, and walked inside to see my mother's demon chihuahua sitting on the couch looking at me. I dropped my bags in the chair next to the door and just got so angry. When the dog is on the couch by himself, it's a sure sign my mom is not home. That dog acts like her shadow. There's no way he'd be sitting on the couch by himself unless she weren't at home, or perhaps taking a shower, but that's doubtful as he usually lays on her bed when that's the case. Why did I get angry? Because I woke up when I was still tired, drove all the way home in the rain, to find that she wasn't home. The only reason I did that stuff was because she said she needed the car. Well, obviously not. Thanks, mom.
Windshield wipers are for losers. [Safety, confessions, and a short rant.]
November 16th, 2009 at 06:44pm