So, Normal Girl, what do you do?

So far, I've only been subject to one April Fool's Day gag, and it actually made me wonder, at least, for a minute. I was listening to the radio, and the news announcer proclaimed that this evening we would all be setting our clocks ahead two hours, rather than one. There was a long explaination, involving the extra half-hour in each year, and the need to make up that difference every two thousand years.

For about 2 seconds, I bought it!

Today Kirstin and I are cleaning the house, and I'm actually quite busy. I only hopped online to enter this week's bills into Yahoo! Bill Pay. I like the service so far, and will be sure to rant if it screws up on me. It is awfully convenient to not have to worry about getting the bills in the mail on time, and I enjoy not spending a couple of hours a week writing and mailing checks. It doesn't cost that much more than buying checks and postage, anyway, which is a nice plus. I was doing okay making all my bills on time the old fashioned way for the pasy year and a half, however, it was a cumbersome task, and I'm glad it's gone.

Last night Forest and I ended up playing a little pool with his dad and Ross, and then heading for Bilbo's. It's been a long time since I was there on a Friday night; it was for more crowded than I remembered! There were only two servers working, and they were both going insane. The people in our section (smoking, for Will's sake) were something to behold. They were largely grungy to the point of actual filth, I'm not exaggerating. My sister Karen went through a grunge phase, clothing-wise. It wasn't a big deal to me... but she actually had good hygeine. These people, on the other hand, badly needed a bath. They all wore spiked dog collars, and one woman was rude enough to actually take a chair from our table, as though we were invading some sort of private, smelly-people-only zone. I was unimpressed.

Then one of the smelly, dirty, grungy people came and plunked down at our table. It turns out he is an acquaintance of James and Vic (although not a fond one) and he had decided to be social. Within one minute of sitting down at our table, after I had kindly shared a piece of our pizza with his "Large Goth Girlfriend", he said to me, "So Normal Girl. What do you do?" It was a patronizing, holier-than-thou tone of voice.

I was pissed. Deeply offended. Of course I didn't say anything about the offense, I kept my cool, and since my job is sufficiently outrageous that I can make most people look like an idiot just by talking about it, I told him what I do for a living.

Like most people, he didn't know what that was, so I explained it for him in highly technical terms. That shut him up. Then I turned away from him and engaged everyone in the table in a different line of conversation.

Fuck him.

There's nothing as offensive to me as a closed-minded person. Following closely in that line-up is the act of labelling someone. I hate to be labelled, and I would kick myself if I did it to someone else. I consider it a hateful act.

How dare he presume that within 1 minute of sitting at my table, he knew enough about me to grant me a title? How dare he flaunt his perceived superiority by mocking me with it publicly, and antagonizing me, for no real purpose other than his own entertainment?

I wasn't in the mood to feel belittled. I was out for a pizza with some friends, and like most people, wanted to kick back a bit and relax after a long week. I also wasn't there to be offended, or to have to deal with some prick with an attitude problem. He basically interfered with my ability to do that, and thus stepped on my right to the persuit of happiness, so fuck his unamerican ass.

Well I suppose that's enough ranting. It was a strange experience to me. Ordinarily I hang out with a group of friends who likely wouln't expose me to an asshole like that. Forest's friends, though, are much more independent of each other in that way. You're on your own, they figure you can handle it.

Which I evidently could. I just wish I didn't have to get so pissed off in the first place.

I can't believe it's already almost 4 PM. I've just gotten some laundry done, and the house isn't nearly clean yet. Forest and I are taking Kirstin to see Road to Eldorado tonight, which should be pretty fun, but Tiff will be coming over after that, and I'd like the house to look nice for her, especially since she hasn't seen it before. Basically right now the front rooms are fine, but the kitchen and dining room are showing the evidence of recent misuse. Basically, we unloaded the van after our trip, and all that stuff is still piled around everywhere. I haven't heard yet whether Shel's joining us. Think I'll give her a call, since my email remote access isn't working right.

So off I go, to clean, to clean!