We all need heros. For over a year, Michele has been one of mine. I may not say it all the time, but I worship her. I adore her. I may not always agree with her, but I don’t give a damn about that. Why? Because she’s the type of person who – if you are willing to have an intelligent discussion with her – will hear you out. She may not agree, but so what? If we were all the same, wouldn’t the world be a really boring place?
(I should note that there are other people in Blogland that I feel the same way about – but that’s not the point of this post.)
One night I realized that not only has Michele touched my life with her stirring writing, she has even crept in to my personality and helped me grow a spine when I need one, standing up for what I believe in. And her story about the freak teens that she spit at stuck with me. A few weeks ago I promised I would someday tell the story of the night I turned in to Michele – well, here it is.
A few months ago, during a night of major Blogwhore game posting – those webgames can be hard work! – I realized I needed some milk and so I ran over to Stop N Go. When I was returning to my apartment I found myself stuck behind a Big Ass pickup truck. The person in the truck was using the call box to get in to the apartment lot, and I was stuck waiting for them. As I sat there, I watched this chick lean out of the window and just spit her gum on the ground at the call box.
What the hell? I was enraged. I don’t know why, but it set me off. (Shhh… I know it sounds irrational and I don’t care.) So I park, and I walk through the lot towards my apartment and then the chicky-poo gets out of her Big Ass truck. I snapped.
“What the hell was that? You couldn’t wait two minutes until you got in to the apartment? You just HAD to spit your gum out, right then? You realize that some poor maintenance guy is going to have to pick YOUR shit up, cleaning up your nasty ass gum just because you couldn’t wait until you were inside to spit it out.”
Then I realized she had out door keys – she lives here! She was heading for her home! That made me even more furious. I was so mad I was shaking!
“You LIVE here? So you have NO consideration for the rest of us that live here? That’s bullshit! You could at least have some respect for the rest of us! WE don’t deserve to have to look at your nasty gum that you just spit out! You live here! You could have thrown it in the trash! What the f*ck is your problem? How f*cking inconsiderate can you possibly be?”
Then I realized she was heading for my stairwell. Going up my stairs. Uh oh.
That was when I realized she was my new upstairs neighbor. Now I’m afraid she’s going to kick my ass some day when I least expect it. No wonder she stomps around the apartment (over my head) as if she was wearing lead boots. Oops.
But I don’t care. Michele helped me realize that. Sure, it was a piece of gum – nothing major. But sometimes when you’re growing a spine you have to start small and work your way up. I stand a little taller thanks to people like Michele who are such great examples.
So this is a big ol’ “I loooooove you, man!” for Michele. Now you should show her some love too and go vote for her. After the crap she has put up for the past few days she deserves your love and show her your support! No, really. Take some photos for her. She loves that stuff.