5 miles to empty

Ever been driving around with your gas tank sitting on E? Two years ago during the gas shortage, I was out of gas, out of town, and out late at night. No I wasn't partying and being irresponsible, I was doing an industrial shoot for a furniture store all the way in Cartersville, GA. I had done this shoot before, but forgot how far it really was and I got turned around a couple times before making it there just I'm time for the 5:30pm call time. I did realize that I was low on gas and with my reliable Honda, I have never had an issue with gas or, lack there of. This was the first time I just might have broken my record and been stuck on the side of the road. I figured I could just get gas after the shoot and be on my merry little way back to Decatur. Little did I know, I was in for a lesson in FAITH on fumes. Get it?!

Now I met a gentleman at the shoot who offered to follow me to a gas station just in case I ran out of gas. See God brought a someone to cover me so I'd be good. As an I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T woman, we need to learn to accept help when a man is trying to do his job to protect you, even when it seems like he's trying to holla and you're not feeling him. This wasn't necessarily the case, but I'm just saying, stop trying to do everything on your own. Anyway, the shoot was going well and fortunately for me, I was wrapped about 12am, but unfortunately my "covering" was not wrapped. I had to make a decision on whether to wait on him or strike out on my own in this dark night in Cartersville. Well, I was being slightly independent and stubborn, cause I was TIRED, and I left my covering there at the shoot. SHOOT! LOL!!

Now I crank up my Honda, and of course the gas light is on, but I'm like no prob, Lord I saw a few gas stations on my way in, I'll be straight. Hmmmfp! I felt like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I was trying every gas station, and it was like "this one's closed" and "this one's open but has no gas!" This was not going like the fairytale at all! I was not having any GoldiLUCK! Now I'm starting to panic just a little cause I left my covering who could have found a gas station that was open for me and I wouldn't have had to drive around blindly WASTING gas! Now remember I am in Cartersville where everything practically shuts down at 9 pm, and they don't have QT or RACETRAC like Atlanta, soooo I am so screwed now and I don't know where I'm going, I'm just driving, I could've been in Tennessee somewhere, maybe not since I was out of gas, ha! So now I'm praying like the whole time like just calling JESUS' name, cause there is POWER in HIS name right?!

At this point I am sure I am going to run out of gas because I have been driving for a long time AND I have driven in circles and up and down dark 2 lane roads with nothing in sight. Finally I drive by this gas station that has all the lights off and all the pumps are off, BUT, the open sign is on. Huh? Next door was the laundromat that was open, and I passed this station earlier, but the "open" sign and dark store seemed like a denial to me. Well this time I pulled into the lot and there was a guy standing in front of the laundromat outside doing something on his cellphone. I took a chance and just asked him if he knew whether or not the gas station was actually opened or closed. AUDACITY OF HOPE (oooh, this coulda been the title too...)

He actually said "No it's closed I'm sorry." I was like "oh cause I see the "open" sign is on...and I'm like soooo outta gas... At this point I'm defeated, BUT GOD!!! How about the guy was actually the manager of that gas station!!!! What!!!! So I'm like "sir please I have like NO GAS IN THIS CAR, and have been driving for like 20 min" in the middle of the night. Now of all the stations I drove past, that were closed and had no gas, God led me to a station that HAD gas and COULD BE opened by FAITH! The guy told me to pull up to the pump, and he reopened the store so that I could get gas!! God WILL open a door that seems closed even when it has an "open" sign that would lead you to believe for example, that a job is available and they go and hire their friend, or that home you're under contract for is practically yours and then the bank says, "ummm NO!" TRUST ME! God opened a door for me when it was closed and it reminds me that he will NEVER leave me nor forsake me....EVER!

This guy was so nice and I was just baffled at the fact that I wouldn't and couldn't even have guessed that HE was the manager of the store, all because of his position. HMM position.... I didn't link him to the gas station because he was "positioned" or standing in front of the laundromat. Now I did kinda racially profile him but only because he looked sorta middle eastern and I know alot of them work at a lot of gas stations, so I thought, hmm maybe... or maybe not. He couldve been playing snake on his phone while waiting for his clothes to dry, or tryna text his baby momma to tell her he just couldnt wash her unmentionables so that meant she wasn't going have any clean panties to wear to work the next day unless she washed them in the sink herself! Lol! You know how some men are! Who knows why he was standing there cause he wasn't washing no clothes, he standing right where God wanted him to be standing so that God could test my faith.

Gas station guy ended up saying to me that he too had actually been out of gas stranded before, and that's why he opened the store for me. Compassion and empathy! When you have been through something you tend to have more empathy and are more compelled to help someone knowing their pain firsthand. Bless his heart. This one was "just right" as Goldilocks would say!

Well folks, needless to say, I drove out of Cartersville on a full tank of gas, money in my pocket from the shoot, and another victory for TEAM JESUS!! HALLELUJAH!! With God all things are possible, even a closed door can be open with God placing all the players in the right positions like any good coach, and with the players studying, applying and trusting the playbook (Bible), victory is inevitable!

From the mouth of babes

Last Sunday, my sister decided to take my nephews to see a live show of Peter Pan. I am always down for live theatre! Well the play was held at an amphitheatre, so I was excited to be able to have a sort of picnic on a sunny day.

We went to Publix right before the show started so that we could get snacks and sandwiches, and normally I wouldn't get a sub sandwich from anywhere but Baldinos, a personal hometown favorite. This time I went ahead and ordered an Italian sub since it was slightly similar to my Baldinos usual. So the Publix guy is putting all the "fixins" on my sub and he puts like two squirts of oil on it and I'm like "hey come on man you can put some more oil on there," and he was like "oh my bad ok, I'll put more on there." Now I was saying it in a light jokey way, you know, "you know 2 squirts is not enough bruh." Well I thought nothing of the interaction, and as we went to check out, my nephew was like "you were very...demanding." I'm standing there like really?? He's like "yes you sounded mean." From the mouth of babes.

Its interesting how you can think you sounded on way but really, what you said was perceived another way. I ended up going back to the substation and apologizing to the Publix guy. He was like "NO! you're fine, I wasn't offended at all, I mean I love you...WAIT!! I LOVE YOU?? What random guy says that? I think he had a Freudian slip there, which was a little weird, but slightly flattering.

Even though I wasn't perceived as mean by the Publix guy, I may have been mean in other areas of life. I know one of my coworkers says that I can say some pretty insensitive things. If I have, I truly am sorry. I think I try my best to resolve conflict because I like hashing things out and being upfront with people. This was why I went back, not to soothe my own ego, but to mend fences. So many arguments can be squashed by just taking the opportunity to apologize when something is said that is hurtful or embarrassing. I think some people can also be in denial about even being wrong, which I have been caught on both sides of that argument, so to speak.

In my communication studies in college, we would attribute this misunderstanding to what we call 'noise' which is not necessarily audible, but can be semantic, psychological, or cultural. In an article on the Society for Technical Communication, Noise refers to anything introduced into the message that is not included in it by [the] sender. I think this happens a lot in general, so from now on I will proofread the messages in my head before they are sent from my mouth, because I think my "firewall" may have been down on various occasions, causing unintended viruses. LOL!!

I hope you dance....

So right now, as I write this, I am at my nephews' school dance! Remember those? It is a 70's theme so I fit right it with my afro, no wig necessary, hee hee! All the kids seem to be enjoying their time to dance, laugh, scream, RUN, and just be themselves. As a kid at heart I completely feel them. Like these kids, I too sit at a desk for 8 hours a day and as told to me by management, I must be tied to the phone lines for 7.4 hours Monday through Friday. I can get a little stir crazy and need a release from angry taxpayers and non stop questions, but hey, I'm here to help.... Never the less, I digress. Kids have dual effect on me, they energize me and tire me, but most of all inspire me! They remind me of all the possibilities that lie ahead and all the wonderful opportunities that lie in the moment.
As with any school dance there are must haves that set it off, and this one comes complete with dim lights, rows of chairs on opposite sides of the room so you can make eyes directly @ your puppy love crush you're infatuated with at the moment, loud bumping music, a photographer, food (and at a good price I might add $1 for popcorn?? Gimme 3 bags!!), chaperons (hated those didn't you especially when you danced with your boo and he tried to cop that feel lol!!), the popular crew, the not so popular crew, the dancers and the wallflowers. This elementary school dance has it all! Also, the parents are in full effect which is awesome because they care enough to stay and participate in their kids lives.

I am feeling a bit nostalgic as they play "You Can't Touch This" and think of the early 90's when I started going to dances, (real ones where you might actually have your 1st boyfriend). That was back when people really did dance, cause as Goodie Mob said "People don't dance no more, all they do is dis...." and by 'dis' I interpret it as a double meaning. All people do is dis, distance themselves from each other. Come on get close, dance close, connect, and dont be so stiff and uptight. All people do is dis, disrespect the dance floor by standing around laughing at everybody else, when in fact YOU are the one who can't dance!! But for real, life is like a school dance, you're gonna have some fun, your heart may get broken, you might spend alot of money trying to impress others or you may be a late bloomer who gets all the girls/guys end the end. You may be like the wallflowers, too afraid to get out there and look silly because you can't dance or maybe you're the one who needs to get off the dance floor cause you been "out" there toooo long. Maybe you're the chaperon who's sooo stuck on the "rules" that you forget that you're not perfect and it's ok if you make a mistake, come on live a little! Could you be the DJ, who is so busy pleasing people and playing what THEY want to hear, that you never get to dance to your favorite tune, go dance and just let the record play! Are you the photographer with the vision for how everyone ELSE's life should look like, but not your own? Have your picture taken (i.e. Look in the mirror) and see what image develops, you might be surprised at the flaws that are exposed.

Whoever you are and where ever you are in this life, just remember life can be just like a school dance, it's what you make it as I've been told many times, so no matter what..... I hope you dance!!!

"I've-got-Codes....."

Last night I was just thinking about all the different codes that I either have used or use now on a daily basis. A code is a rule for converting a piece of information (for example, a letter, word, phrase, or gesture) into another form or representation (one sign into another sign), not necessarily of the same type. Technology forces us to use codes and for a lot of us we use them on our jobs.

Using codes whether it be for work or play can be efficient, useful and a fun way to have secret communication when necessary or just an inside joke. For example, if you ever go to Footlocker and you hear an employee walk to the back stockroom and tell another employee that he/she is going to "DEPARTMENT 13" that is code for the bathroom! Cool huh?! Well, at least I think so, there are so many other words, phrases, numbers, acronyms.... that we all use to covertly communicate something we don't want others to know or that is much more time consuming to communicate verbally, like when you hold your index finger and middle finger in the shape of a 'V' that is what we call a PEACE sign!