Well, dear readers, there is a pandemic which, to my mind, is every bit as horrendous as the one we’ve been in for a year-and-a-half, and that is what I call the People Pandemic. People have simply lost their minds. They don’t think, they don’t care about anything but themselves, they are unaware of what’s going on around them, they are entitled, they are selfish, they are delusional. And I guess yesterday was People Pandemic Day because within a ten-minute window, I saw all of that and I’m afraid it was one thing too much and I went, well, a little berserk because I’d had it up to my eyeballs. Unfortunately, I let my anger get the better of me and that caused a VERY dangerous situation, which thankfully worked out okay but was very scary for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. So, let me lay it out for you. We won’t even talk about the crazy-ASS drivers, too busy trying to read text messages rather than paying attention to, I don’t know, DRIVING? No, we’ll begin this tale at Gelson’s at one-thirty in the afternoon, which apparently on People Pandemic Day is the key time for people to want food from the deli there. And to take a lot of time. I finally did get waited on and got what I needed – two pieces of that quesadilla thing – I think that’s about a half a quesadilla, a tiny bit of hatch chili mac-and-cheese, and two chicken tenders. I also had to get Diet Coke. After paying, I was walking by the deli case, pushing my cart. An old woman on one of those motorized things was paying no attention to anyone but herself, had no idea where she was driving and didn’t care if she was about to run into someone, which is what she almost did to my very own self. I said something about it, but they don’t hear and even if they heard, they don’t care. I proceeded to the door, where some old fart gestured to slow down the pushing of my cart. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I was going as slow as you can go, so I just shrugged at him. He didn’t care either as I’m sure he was already gesturing to someone else. So, was in both a foul and fowl mood already from those two idiots. When I leave the parking lot, I go through the Best Buy parking structure as it leads right out to the street I take home. You just turn right from the Gelson’s lot, pass the door where people exit the store, and you’re on the street. There was a car in front of me moving pretty slowly – it happens – so I was going perhaps three to five miles per hour when some jerk screams out, “SLOW DOWN!” That was it for me. I’ve had people do that in the neighborhood way too often, even though I’m never going fast. It’s become a thing, and my annoyance about it has been rising steadily for years and this was the straw that broke the Kimmel’s back. Normally, I would have just rolled down the passenger side window and let him have it verbally, but the electrical system in the car is screwed up and I can’t roll down anything but the driver’s side. So, I slammed on my brakes, opened my door, thought I’d put the car in park and was ready to really get into it with this jerk.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t put the car in park, and it kept moving forward with me half in and half out and I could not get my footing to bet back in and hit the brake. I had visions of the car and me getting creamed in the street or hitting a pedestrian. It seemed like minutes, but it was only seconds and I finally managed to get in and hit the brakes, but not before the car had brushed up against a yellow pole. I sat there, red-faced, filled with rage, and wanting to actually go punch that jerk the HELL out, but I sat in the car for about thirty seconds, gathered my wits about me (no mean feat), and left. When I got home, I was worried that the driver’s side door would be all screwed up, but there was just yellow paint that had come off. I got a towel and warm water and got it all off and aside from a tiny dent, that was it. My leg was hugely sore from it being dragged and from trying to get it back in the car.
As I’ve said, I’ve really just had it with these people and I’m like an exposed nerve. It’s not everyone, of course. There are many intelligent and reasonable people who don’t do this crap, but yesterday was just one after another. End of rant about the People Pandemic. Otherwise, I’ve been listening to music all evening. First a wonderful two-CD set of music conducted by the wonderful Rudolf Kempe. Some Richard and Johann Strauss, some Haydn, and the real gem, a twenty-six-minute suite from Hansel and Gretel. Kempe and the early stereo sound really make all the music just soar. Then it was Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, which took up almost all the evening due to its almost three-and-a-half-hour length. Wagner is lush, and the melodies are beautiful and sometimes quite famous. The cast seems wonderful – Christa Ludwig, Elizabeth Grummer, Jess Thomas, and others and the conductor is Kempe – the 1964 stereo is amazing and I’m really enjoying it – yes, it’s still going on as I write these here notes.
Yesterday was a truly odd day from start to finish. I was up at eleven after eight hours of sleep. I answered e-mails, then went to storage to pick up my copies of the new CDs. Then came the Gelson’s nightmare. I came right home, announced our two new titles, and ate my food. The chicken tenders were horrifying and got thrown out after bite number one. The hatch chili mac-and-cheese was only okay, and the quesadilla wasn’t quite as good as the night before but was still okay.
Orders began coming in and it was pretty steady for a while, but then dried up. Hopefully, they’ll pick up again – that’s the way it seems to go with the Bagley stuff. Here are the covers of the two new titles.
I began playing with a show order, happily found out Kerry O’Malley will join us for the Group Rep cabaret, and I tried to watch the Frank Capra picture, Lady for a Day, which I found loud and kind of irritating, and I fell asleep. Capra, of course, remade the film as Pocketful of Miracles. I like Capra much of the time, but just didn’t care for Lady for a Day. Then, to assuage the horrors of the day, I went to K’s Donuts and got an apple fritter and a small chocolate thing with a little whipped cream in the middle, came home, ate both, had a brief visit from someone picking up CDs, and continued listening to the long, long Lohengrin. And there’s still forty minutes to go.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll continue making a show order for the Group Rep cabaret, I’ve added young Peyton Kirkner to the anniversary show, and I still have to add one or two more performers. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then I have a three o’clock lunch meeting, which I’m looking forward to, especially the eating part. At six, I have a brief meeting at the Group Rep regarding sound for the cabaret, then I’ll come home and watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow I’m lunching with Sami Staitman and her mother, and then it’s more of the same for the weekend. And then we’re into the week leading up to the Group Rep cabaret. And I have a LOT of commentary to write for that.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, continue making a show order, hopefully pick up packages, have a lunch meeting, have a sound meeting, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Have you ever gotten unabashedly angry at people over their stupidity, and have you ever done anything about it? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that my full day of the People Pandemic is done for quite some time.