WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Every time I finish writing and publish the next day I remember something else I should have put in the writing. I remembered some other experiences I had during my caseworker days so here they are.

I know I said that I was never afraid when visiting in all those recipients' homes, but I had forgotten one specific visit. It was in San Antonio on the East side of town that I knocked on the sagging old door of an elderly lady's house. After I explained who I was and why I was there she let me in. Initially she was afraid I was going to cut back on her welfare check. She remained unsure of me the entire time I spoke with her. How did I know this, you ask?  Because while she sat in her rocking chair near the wood stove, she kept her hand on a large axe that was right beside her. I placed my chair as near to the door as I could get and kept an eye on a possible escape route. Needless to say, I was relieved when that interview was over.

Another visit took me to a tiny, ramshackled house where, while knocking on the door, an angry dog came running around the corner,snarling and barking at me. I've never been afraid of dogs so I thought I could talk to this one but he wasn't in the mood to be cajoled. Just about the time I was ready to make a run for the car, I heard a voice from the back of the house telling the dog to be quiet. Here came a tiny little lady with a hoe in her hand asking what I wanted. When I explained, she was okay with my being there and I asked her why the dog was so irritated. She replied, "I feeds him buckshot to make him mean".

One day I was having a difficult time locating the next person I was to visit. Picture, if you will, driving around San Antonio without GPS. After I had looked up all the places I planned to visit, I usually wrapped the city map around the steering wheel just in case. I finally found the house I was looking for but the street wasn't on the map. It was right up next to the railroad! Seriously!
Anyway, I got out of the car, opened the gate and the old lady sitting on the porch yelled for me to watch where I was walking...she chewed tobacco and spit it all over her front yard! I had to tiptoe on up to the porch.

That story reminds me of a woman I met who had a mustache and a bit of a beard where there were traces of tobacco dribbling down her chin.

I will leave you with that picture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THREE SQUARES

All this to-do about toilet paper has brought to mind various experiences pertaining to that life essential. Right now I am sitting two rooms away from an open package of lavender scented toilet paper, the only kind my son could find, with a scent that is so strong I will not have to spray for as long as this stuff lasts. Anyone who thinks they can cause the smell of our body function to disappear is operating under a delusion. Ain't nothin' that really covers it up. Back to the subject at hand; the first thought that came to my mind in the midst of the tp frenzy was my husband telling me one thing they instructed him to do when he was in the Air Force. He was told that they could use only three squares of toilet paper per visit. Evidently there was someone outside the stall handing it out. Which memory then connects to our drive up the autobahn through Germany many years ago. They have handy rest stops on the way and we pulled in to one to use the facilities. Right outside th...
Read more

HALLOWED EVE?

Well here it is, almost Halloween 2020, one that will be completely different from any others thanks to the current pandemic. I don't know anything about Halloween in other countries but here in the U.S. it's been a big deal. I would like to share with you some of my past adventures which happened on the "Hallowed Eve".  When I was very young I belonged to the Girl Scouts and in those days we didn't have to go around peddling candy. We did all sorts of interesting and constructive things and even had campouts. On one overnight campout outside of town, I remember sitting around the campfire listening to Rocky Reagan tell ghost stories. He was a real rancher and a master story teller. I think that was on a Halloween but even if it wasn't it would have been appropriate for that time. They were wonderful tales. Look him up. He wrote some interesting books about Texas and ranching. The first Halloween experience I remember occurred when I was in junior high. A bunc...
Read more

TO BE AN ONLY CHILD

 I think I told my readers, if there are any, that I am an only child. Little did I realize growing up that that would allow me to have a few interesting adventures as an adult. Today I have decided to share some of those with you and I hope I am not repeating any stories. I will try to keep them in chronological order but that may be impossible for me. I start by reminding you of my flight from New Orleans to Athens, Greece. That's a tale you may find in my blog of June 30, 2019, so I won't retell it now. After that I flew to Washington D.C., which I wrote about on May 18, 2019. These are trips that I made alone and somehow managed to come away unharmed.  Then there was the trip to Mexico City before things like email and all the other rapid communication stuff existed. I took some papers containing our shipping company business to the capital for a fellow to sign because at that time there was no way to have that done electronically. Of course when I arrived in Mexico City I...
Read more