Nice Week Mr President~

[IrishAyes]

42. Yes, I long for that at times.

There are a few people around here willing to help, but it's largely out of what they see as their Christian duty. I'm still the 'other'.

Except I can't resist sharing a funny story with you this evening. The UMC I visit around the corner (they know I'll stay Catholic the rest of my life) held a carry-in today, so the huge church basement gets really crowded at those events. There are 2 groups of people I tend to enjoy a lot - little kids and very old folks. So before the chow line formed I sat down next to a really sweet 87-year-old lady who's half deaf but very congenial. As soon as I sat down, she boomed, "PEOPLE REALLY GIVE YOU A LOT OF GUFF ABOUT THAT STUFF YOU WRITE IN THE PAPER, DON'T THEY?"

Couldn't help myself - I started to cackle at the top of my lungs, which made me laugh even harder. Then she said, "MY SON READS ME WHAT YOU WRITE SOMETIMES BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE TO READ ANYMORE!" Of course by now people were trying to pretend they weren't looking at us, and that set me off again. After catching my breath, I said, "Yes, ma'am, some of them do." For some reason it just turned my tickle box over. When she invited me to sit at their table, I could hardly refuse. Funny thing is, I suspect her son reads her my scribblings with a tone of disapproval if not outrage. The entire table, except for my 87-yr-old friend, spent the entire time talking about their disapproval of today's degenerate society. I just kept eating, except once in awhile I'd look up and grin at everybody just to show them I was still having a good time. I've been working on emotional detachment skills. It helps me and drives other people batty when they're trying to egg me on.