17 Feb 2014

MY WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 15

Although since weeks I was reminded of Valentine's day each time I opened Internet,  I forgot. But fortunately I found immediately a solution in the morning, I wished happy Valentine to Mr. G. and  proposed a nice Sushi dinner at home. He was very happy about this idea or at least his stomach was, he loves Sushi.

I had to buy some cheese and bread and also take some cash, the cash point is inside the supermarket. In Belgium these machines are called "Mr. Cash" but I prefer the English version "A hole in the wall". I put my card in the "hole", got my cash, but not my card. After having pushed on all buttons and inspected the slit where the card should come out from all sides without any success, I was sure that the card had been swallowed by the hungry machine. 



I called a responsible for help, it was a nice lady, she also pushed on all buttons but no card came out. Then she looked at me and asked if I was sure that I hadn't put the card back in my purse. Convinced that this was not the case, I looked in my wallet and what was there ? The card ! Thinking of I don't no what I had put the card back where it belonged ! With a sigh of relief I thanked the lady and then we both laughed about my distraction. The rest of the afternoon I spent with Nicole who also had similar adventures, the worst was when she went to the vet and arriving there she realized that she had forgotten her dog at home !

On Sunday morning I went as usual to the midi market in Brussels and got nearly involved in a fight !



Apparently a man had bothered a young girl by touching her between the legs. The girl instead of informing the driver had left the bus. That was before I arrived.

A hooligan looking like guy who sat behind me had gotten up and wanted to attack the culprit by insulting him with words I could never translate. Then he approached the guy but a young man held him back. The guy left the bus in a hurry at the next stop, and the story should have been over.

But the other one continued to shout and now insulted the whole bus, that we were all responsible if a rape would have happened. As a respectable vintage lady, I tried to calm down the overdoing lawkeeper.  I told him that nobody had been raped so far, that the guy in question had left the bus and that now he could sit down, he had done his duty. But there was nothing to do he continued to treat us as assholes (excuse my French) and worse.

He smelled like a beer barrel at 10.30 am, and had obviously mixed up coffee with beer, I finally had enough and stood up. He was more then a head shorter then me and had to look up. I must have had a terrible expression on my face because when I shouted "Now you sit down and shut up" he sat down like a schoolboy, he probably thought I would smash my caddie over his head. Meanwhile the driver had stopped the bus and arrived. Another man told him what had happened and said that this lady (me) had calmed him down. Still during the whole way he was mumbling about failure to render assistance and complained to his wife or girlfriend who looked scared and terrified. I thought this is the kind of man who beats up his wife if ever she dares to have another opinion.

I remembered my youth when things like that happened to me, but I wasn't a helpless victim which got out of the bus, I once slapped a man in the face and called the driver, who called the police and the man was arrested. Girls shouldn't be afraid of such individuals, especially not in a bus !

After this rather exciting trip I arrived at the market, did my shopping and then sat down on the terrace of my usual café enjoying a cup of tea in the sunshine. A few minutes later a lady asked if the other seat was free and sat down with me. It took not even an hour and I knew her whole life. She was 72, talked about her numerous lovers, her divorced husbands, her life in general and how she spends her days, and I thought how nice it is when you listen life to human stories on a terrace in the sunshine, instead of sitting in front of the TV and see the same but on a screen.

When I was home again, I thought that life can be quiet exciting !

11 comments:

  1. I made a decision when I read your post this morning: I'm not going on leave to SA in June; instead I'm coming to your part of the world! You live SUCH an exciting life, no matter what you do, there is a story attached and I love it! Big (((hugs))) for a post which brightened my day! Jo

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  2. Here they are called Automatic Teller Machines and don't have all those buttons to push. Do you write your life story while waiting for the cash to come out? No wonder you forgot your card.
    My weekend was boring, no bus stories to tell and no one told me about their lovers. And I have no lovers to talk about.
    The good news is it rained all weekend, the bad news is the markets were cancelled.

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  3. We often say 'should have taken the car' if anything unusual happens on the tram. If we get caught in traffic we say, 'should have caught the tram'. You and your friends are a good match. Fancy going to vet and forgetting your animal.

    Being serious, women should not put up with such things. You did the right thing when you were younger. Make a scene, complain and insist action is taken.

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  4. Going to the vet without your animal! Hilarious!! And you forgetting that you had already gotten your card back. Very funny!

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  5. Oh my, your adventures leave me speechless. I really think you should write a book.

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  6. Exciting? Positively humming with it!

    Good for you to have told the bully to sit down. He was just looking for a fight.

    So, old age absent-mindedness has caught up with you too? Join the club.

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  7. You have so many adventures! I love reading them from the safety of my ho hum farm.

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  8. Ha!Ha! You make me laugh with your adventure in the bus!!!Gattina! The man became suddenly a little boy when you were in front of him!!! You should make a super teacher!

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  9. She forgot her dog?? that is a worry. You were very brave to stand up to the angry do gooder and calm him down. Yes life can be interesting.

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  10. Our daughter is like you -- she can't leave the house without meeting somebody new and usually getting in the middle of an adventure with a story attached. I wonder if she's related to you -- sometimes I don't think she is related to me as I lead a rather boring life comparatively.

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  11. Amazing how an apparently simple grocery trip can turn into a wild adventure.

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