With Three; You Get Germ-X and Egg Rolls

My to-do list for today was as follows:
1. Kids off to school
2. Doctor's Appointment
3. Had to meet three strangers since Saturday and Sunday - I watched too much football.

Kids off to school...no time to meet any strangers before I get to the doctor's. Arrived at the doctor office and really couldn't meet anyone there since I was the first appointment of the day and I actually arrived before my doctor got there. Done with the appointment and I decided that I would meet the first person that I came across. And there he stood right inside the door. He said hello to me first and moved right over with my hand extended and started into my spiel,"Hi, my name is Donna..." Larry is the Valet Supervisor at Richardson Methodist/Baylor. He seemed young - maybe in his 30's, wearing a stocking cap as it was about 28 degrees out this morning, solid looking sneakers, and well spoken. I asked if he liked his job and he did because he gets to meet a lot of people; from the medical personnel who work in the building or patients coming for appointments. He came into this job as the supervisor, but it doesn't really have a career path so he would like open a car detail business. He has already purchased a second truck that he intends to fix up and use for his business. I explained to him that where I used to, there was guy who would wash and detail cars and he would set-up on the lower level of the garage. He was out of the elements and always appeared to have a good stream of business. I asked him if he would be able to get the contract at the medical plaza; he said that he had never thought about and he thanked me for the idea. I wished Larry a great day. I told him good luck with the business and I would check in with him again in July when I came for my next appointment.

With a sick son at home, I decided to run by the store and pick-up a few things. It was a slow morning at the Wal-Mart, the checkers were just hanging out waiting for customers. There was Linda anxiously waiting to check someone out; anyone out. I was the anyone. I would guess her to be in her late sixties, wearing glasses, a short sensible haircut and sporting thin rubber gloves on (I am guessing for germ control) - Linda starting scanning my items. After she was done, she told me that I was smart to wait until this morning to come shopping as Saturday was crazy with all the Cowboy fans coming to buy chips and party items to watch the game. Since she was talkative, I told her my name was Donna and went into my new chant. I asked her if she had worked at Wal-Mart long - she said about 17 months (I think) and then I asked what she did prior. "I worked in employment verifications." I told that I had been in a similar line of work before being made redundant from a corporate purchase. Then she started asking me questions, "Have you been out of work long?" "Have you applied with the government yet?" "Did you know that the government has great benefits?" I answered, "September,but paid through December; No; and So I have heard." She proceeded to give me a couple of website addresses so that I could get started applying with the government. And for a minute, I thought that her body had been possessed by Chris - he keeps saying the same thing about getting a job. Lucky for me or her...another customer came up and with that I headed for the door.

I had noticed her on the way in - bundled up in her white bubble jacket, long cream denim skirt with bobby socks and tennis shoes and hair pulled back in a bun. I popped over and asked her if many people thanked her for a good job. Then I noticed that she had really clear blue eyes. So I told her thanks for doing her job and asked her if she was really cold hanging out by the front door helping and assisting customers. She said that the guys that pulled carts had a colder job than she did - she had a point. I asked if she liked her job and she said that it paid the bills, but the front door was really cold in the winter and really warm in the summer. With my spiel concluded names exchanged. I extended my hand to Tiffany and wished her a good day......then.......as I was shaking her hand, I saw it. Her runny nose. And then a million questions started running through my head...was it running before I approached? Do you think that she had Germ-X that she was using? My gut and my head screamed - "HELL, NO." I am not even sure if she was talking or I was talking when I retrieved my hand from hers and then as if all of my fears were confirmed - her hand went straight to nose and she used the back of her hand to wipe at her nose. I thought I was going to blow my cookies right there and holding back a dry heave - I half trotted/half sprinted to my car throwing another goodbye and good day over my shoulder to Tiffany. I unloaded my groceries and tried to hardly touch anything in my car. I pulled into the garage (without hitting anything) and ran straight into the house and slathered my hands with Germ-X. And with a deep breath and clean hands, I brought the groceries into the house.

So where do the egg rolls come in??? Tonight for dinner, we had orange chicken, rice, and egg rolls.