*sigh* I'm loosing my touch. (Warning: Hi-jacked by Em)

[Bunnylady]

My momma did raise me right, and that may be part of the problem. When you combine her teaching with my father's Dutch stoicism, you might say that I learned passive-aggressive in the cradle. Like the time when I was - oh, about 7, I think - and had been playing on the playground with some of my friends. One of them had dragged a board up on top of the monkey bars, and someone accidentally knocked it off. It hit me on the back of the head. It hurt quite a bit, but I didn't cry; I just kind of shrugged it off until the other kids told me I was bleeding. That was a matter that needed attention, so I went home; the trickling feeling on the back of my head made the trip pretty urgent. When I got home, there was another lady there; she and my mother were talking. I knew better than to interrupt when my elders were speaking, but this seemed rather important. "Mom?" I said. "Hang on a minute, Hon, we're talking," she said. "Um, Mom?" By now my shirt was sticking to my shoulders. "Don't interrupt! We'll be done in a minute." What's a kid to do? I held my tongue, and just turned around. Two women nearly had heart attacks; something about the sight of that much blood kind of gets your attention, you know?

That kind of coolness in a crisis has cost me more times; people just don't understand that when I say, "I need a little help here," it means that a small catastrophe is imminent. My tendency to not make a fuss means that Critter came close to delivering his own child - twice! I don't create scenes; I'm usually on the receiving ends of them, but it does nobody any good. I'm like a mule - if I feel strongly enough about whatever it is to get in a fight about it, you might as well kill me where I stand, because I won't budge!

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Oh I stay calm in most situations. "Eerily calm" as my brothers say. When there is an emergency, I am probably more level headed than normal. I don't get upset, angry, or frightened. I just handle it.


However, there is a difference in that, and letting someone be cruel to another person. I do have a short temper in some aspects, and I will not stand by and let another person be abused. Verbally or otherwise. If I have to make a scene? So be it. I think the world would be a better place if more people made scenes once in awhile.

 

[bluesub]

That's okay, Blue...you can share.

No one here but me and you...No one will read it.
I promise.

Surely you trust the Spook....?

Em reminded me of one time I did not keep my mouth shut... I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant and helping to rescue a sea lion on a jetty (think small agile animal, big rocks in the ocean and me trying to keep up...). The sea lion kept jumping back into the ocean, swimming around the jetty and jumping back up on the rocks on the opposite side of me. I had a new volunteer with me, who kept spooking the animal. Finally I netted the animal as it was leaping off the rock into the ocean. We climbed over all the rocks carrying a mad sea lion and a spectator (male) on the beach said that he could have done a better job (not sure how he could have done it better since I actually caught the animal). I was wearing slickers that hid most of my belly. As I was walking away (gritting my teeth), I made a comment about while he may have been able to catch it, he could have never done it 8 months pregnant...

 

[sourland]

bluesub, if there were ever any doubt your last post proves that you truly BELONG in this kingdom.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Blue, that story reminds me of the time I was training my new hires for the aquarium maintenance company I used to own. I was lecturing them about safety. Safety of themselves, and the inhabitants of the aquariums. My lecture went as follows:

Me: Now, when cleaning an aquarium with a lion fish, scorpion, fox face, or any other known venomous inhabitant in it, you need to watch the animal. Be aware of where they are at all times. Absolutely do not let your guard down. If you are stung, it could kill you, though more likely you'll be in very intense pain for many hours. However, you will stress the animal, and I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to stressing them. There's no excuse for Ietting your guard down, no excuse for being stung. If you are stung, you're fired. No exceptions. *insert expletive here as I get stung on the index finger by a pterois volitans* Now, follow me and I'll show you how to treat a sting if you or someone you know is dumb enough to do what I just did.

 

[Bunnylady]

After I took a spill when pregnant in which I chipped my kneecap, my doctor suggested putting me in a padded room for the duration. Blue, I think if he'd known you, he'd have made it a room for two!

So, Em, how does one go about firing oneself?

 

[onedoodle3]

My momma did raise me right, and that may be part of the problem. When you combine her teaching with my father's Dutch stoicism, you might say that I learned passive-aggressive in the cradle. Like the time when I was - oh, about 7, I think - and had been playing on the playground with some of my friends. One of them had dragged a board up on top of the monkey bars, and someone accidentally knocked it off. It hit me on the back of the head. It hurt quite a bit, but I didn't cry; I just kind of shrugged it off until the other kids told me I was bleeding. That was a matter that needed attention, so I went home; the trickling feeling on the back of my head made the trip pretty urgent. When I got home, there was another lady there; she and my mother were talking. I knew better than to interrupt when my elders were speaking, but this seemed rather important. "Mom?" I said. "Hang on a minute, Hon, we're talking," she said. "Um, Mom?" By now my shirt was sticking to my shoulders. "Don't interrupt! We'll be done in a minute." What's a kid to do? I held my tongue, and just turned around. Two women nearly had heart attacks; something about the sight of that much blood kind of gets your attention, you know?

That kind of coolness in a crisis has cost me more times; people just don't understand that when I say, "I need a little help here," it means that a small catastrophe is imminent. My tendency to not make a fuss means that Critter came close to delivering his own child - twice! I don't create scenes; I'm usually on the receiving ends of them, but it does nobody any good. I'm like a mule - if I feel strongly enough about whatever it is to get in a fight about it, you might as well kill me where I stand, because I won't budge!

You were bleeding and no adult stopped to help you??? If I were your mom, I'd have been finding out why no teacher or adult attempted to help you. Head injuries are nothing to ignore.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Actually, shortly after that I had to step back behind the scenes so to speak due to health issues.


The lion fish however, after three days of looking rather ill, passed away.

 

[sourland]

Actually, shortly after that I had to step back behind the scenes so to speak due to health issues.


The lion fish however, after three days of looking rather ill, passed away.

Hmm, does that perhaps make our Queen Em

more venomous than the lionfish?

 

[Bunnylady]

Eeks. Is that what happens when you bite (or in this case, sting) the hand that feeds you?

You were bleeding and no adult stopped to help you??? If I were your mom, I'd have been finding out why no teacher or adult attempted to help you. Head injuries are nothing to ignore.

Well, my mother and her friend were the first adults I saw. My dad was in the army at the time; the playground was part of the base housing complex. "Home" at that time was a second-floor apartment.

Gee, those really were simpler times, weren't they? Thinking back, unless there was a mom pushing her toddler on a swing or a dad playing catch with his son, it was rare to have an adult on that playground. Kids from the age 5 or so came and went on their own; younger than that might be out with only an older sibling "keeping an eye on them." Disputes seldom got to the point of getting an adult involved; we were pretty much self-policing (which probably explains why that board got on the monkey bars in the first place.

After I got hit with it, the other kids tossed it in the dumpster).