12.04.2006

muni tails

i started my holiday shopping early this year. i made my list of who's been naughty and nice, calculated the current postal price for shipping coal, and came to the pine-tree sniffing conclusion that i should pick out (most) of my gifts in person. that's right. amazon.com would be relegated to the difficult-to-find items (such as a genealogy computer program for the grandpa), and i would buy everything else on foot. i started a few weeks ago, even purchasing gifts for 3 people prior to thanksgiving. this weekend, i braved the storm downtown and made a mad (which transformed into the crazy) dash throughout the new mall. after 3 hours of incessant lines, indecisive shoppers, and throngs of people haphazardly milling about, i threw my hands up in disgust and hopped a bus home. and that's where i thought the most awful shopping event ever would be over. but this is san francisco, right?

i was sitting next to, well, someone. i had my headphones on, listening to NPR and whatever illustrative commentary they were providing, while also contemplating our dinner options (pasta, pasta, or... frozen potato pancakes by the dozen. little star pizza won out in the end.). we got to civic center, and the person (hey, it's a woman!) next to me says something. really, with my high-quality headphones from cowon, it was all just a jumble. so i take them off and ask her to repeat her question....

fizzy haired, green eye shadow up to her eyebrows, purple flowing house dress lady: i have a cat question.
becca: um... kay.
lady: you just seem to be a cat person. you have this big aura around you, one that just screams that you enjoy cats.
b: me? eh... i have a cat.
l: yes. i can tell. and you've had cats your whole life.
b: well... pretty much. i also had dogs growing up. big dogs, little dogs... is it the fur on my polartec? alphie loves to snuggle up on it.
l: no no no. i mean throughout your past lives, you've always been very close to cats. they've always been your confidantes. and i can see it all, right now (starts waving her hands).
b: on the 21 hayes? you can see all that on the bus? you sure it isn't just my exhaustion from almost getting eaten alive at the mall?
l: so i have this cat problem, and i know you can help me. i've had dogs most of my lives, but for the past 12 years, i've had cats. and i just put in a cat door so they can go inside and out. do you think they can learn to use the door? or should i wait until they're kittens again?
b: kittens? um... again? like... in their next lives?
l: right
b: well... you can always teach a dog new tricks, so why not?
l: oh, look at your aura... it's glowing.
b: yeah... look, a bus stop! and it seems to have an aura to it, one that's calling to me. this isn't my stop, but... i'll take it.

3 comments:

James said...

ANOTHER reason why I love San Francisco! It is such a unique and beautiful city. I miss it! Amsterdam is pretty similar though. LOTS of cuckoo birds around, too, believe me. Someone I know has a birthday pretty soon....

Anonymous said...

I know I am grammer and spelling illiterate but I can't believe I have found a typo in your posting...they can learn to use the door? or should i wait until their kittens again? Shouldn't it be...until they're kittens again. yippee, maybe there is hope for me yet in the editorial department-LOL
Love,
Mom

Becca said...

ack! must fix grammar now and go back to pc language arts class. thanks, mom, for pointing out i'm a failure!