I've made so many trips to Midland over the past 11 months that I sometimes feel like I'm still hanging on to that dusty town. But I am thankful that it's close enough to drive down for a weekend and still feel connected to Bailey and the rest of my family and friends. With Bailey nearing her seventh month, I want to see her as much as I can. I've never regretted our move away from Midland, but it's sometimes hard to not be there for your daughter during her first pregnancy.
Her shower was beautiful, and Michael's family couldn't have been more welcoming. It was odd yet comforting to be around so many people that know and love Bailey that I've never met. As much as I would love for her to be up here or closer, she and Emma are in very good hands and probably where they need to be. Of course, that doesn't stop me from campaigning for Tulsa every chance I get. :-)
It has been suggested to me from my sometimes wise oldest daughter, that based on an accumulation of events, I might be being challenged in a supernatural way. I had actually thought this as well, but shrugged it off. The challenge I might have been given is how am I going to start handling people who are extremely rude, way off base, you name it. What I usually do is stand up for myself and give it right back. It feels pretty good, even RIGHT, at least temporarily. What I don't want to become is a pushover. So how do you balance the two? How do you confront someone who's being a jerk without compromising your integrity? How do you let someone have it in a dignified manner?
I had another encounter with an asshole recently, this time at a grocery store. I'll skip the details but will just say that I was shocked and confused.
I'm a little on edge around strangers right now, at least until I get this figured out.
The obvious does not escape me. I realize that by sharing my stories of encounters with rude people, it starts to look like I'm the one causing these things to happen. But I have Alan as my witness who says I'm not doing anything to instigate matters. And Alan is as good a personal reference as any.
So...things have been quiet in the neighborhood for a while. The lady diagonally to us who called the cops on our dog and then proceeded to brag about it to others doesn't come out much anymore. I'd like to take credit for this, since I made quite an effort to make her feel uncomfortable when she did venture out, but the truth is the weather is probably what keeps her fat ass inside.
Oh wow, was that out loud? I'm in an ugly mood.
We did not have a good Saturday morning.
In order to accommodate "those people," Duke doesn't go outside as much anymore. He doesn't chase freely after squirrels and airplanes like the good ole' days. But being a dog, he really needs to be out there to take care of business and bark at the occasional dog and owner walking by, carrying out his God-given dog duty of protecting his owners and their property. It usually lasts for less than a minute. I know this, because we kept a log for about a month and timed his barking. That's right. We timed our dog's barking. We want to be courteous and accommodating to others, and we've made changes even though we hated how the neighbor handled things.
Duke wakes up around 6:00 a.m. most mornings and is ready to go outside to water the trees. This past Saturday morning, I let him out around 6:52 a.m. At around 6:55, we heard him barking and IMMEDIATELY went to the back door to make him come in. It doesn't take long to hear his bark - it's loud and you can't miss it. Of course we wouldn't want him barking early in the morning. So I opened the door, walked out to get him, and the neighbor directly behind us screams at me. "SHUT YOUR G-- D--- DOG UP!"
I've never met this neighbor in the ten months we've lived here. There's no alley separating our fences which makes things sort of intimate, yet they've never said hello. This was my introduction. And what a lovely man he turned out to be.
Don't expect to hear that I handled this with maturity and decorum like my husband would have. A man whom I've never met yelled and cursed at me, and that ugly don't-you-dare-talk-crap-about-my-kids-or-my-dog side came out. I will just say that all the yelling ended with me requesting he go directly to Hell.
Alan chose a different route and called the cops. A very nice, very professional police officer spoke with us for a while about ways we might handle this, what our rights are, what their rights are (which it turns out are WAY better than our rights), and suggested Alan not go try to speak to this neighbor for a couple days. Let things cool down.
It's been a couple days, and I don't feel things have cooled down. I'm still furious. I'm still ready for a fight. I'm all kinds of pissed off about not being welcome in my neighborhood where we pay our mortgage, taxes, and annual HOA fees like everyone else. And I'm really confused about feeling like a target. Addison lives with us with her two dogs, and now she's nervous about going outside. Is this going to blow over, or is this just the beginning of the next several years?
I know what it takes to be the bigger person and handle this with integrity, but I won't be doing that. I know deep down it would probably make me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing I turned the other cheek. It's not going to happen. All I can say is...stay tuned. I'm pretty sure this isn't over.
