Aleita and Maggie couldn’t be more different when it comes to running errands. Aleita is always quick to ask if she can accompany whoever is going into the store. Maggie, on the other hand, almost always automatically asks if she can stay in the car. If she is told that everyone will be going in the store, she usually rolls her eyes and sighs as though she were just told she had to have a root canal, rather than that we need to run into Kroger’s for ten minutes to get milk and bread.
No, Maggie is none-too-sad about staying behind on most errands that we run. She is happy to sit in the car while go in to pick up the mail at the post office or drop off books at the library. Maggie would rather remain in the car if she happens to be with us when we pick up Aleita at school. Maggie’s ultimate hell is Wal-Mart. It is her least favorite place on earth. I can’t say that I disagree with her – but it is a necessary evil. I simply can’t afford to buy laundry soap, paper towels, lotion and the like at the grocery store. She never hesitates to express her dissatisfaction at being made to accompany us to Wal-Mart. If I pull a list out of my purse with more than 20 items, she throws her head back in defeat and continually asks, “how much longer?” the entire time we are there.
Aleita, conversely, wants to be right where we are all the time. I think she is afraid she may miss something. When I get out of the car at the post office to get the mail on the way home, she always asks if she can go in, even though everyday I tell her “no.” (It takes longer to get her in and out of her seat that it does to actually go in and get the mail.) Errands with Aleita take quite a bit longer because she wants to converse with almost everyone she meets, whether she knows them or not.
One of the places Aleita especially likes to go is the bank because she has figured out that the bank gives out candy. We have told her repeatedly not to ASK for it, but to say ‘thank you’ if it is given. Most of the time, she can hardly contain herself. This past Friday, we went through the drive up at the bank in our little town of Blue Mound and before we got to the window, she said, “I want candy, but I’m not going to ask for it.”
Chris said to her, “We are on our way to eat lunch, so even if you get candy, you aren’t going to get to eat it right now.’ She bounced and squirmed in her seat while she waited for the transaction to be complete. The banks in Decatur sometimes give candy and sometimes do not, but the Blue Mound Bank almost always does - - plus the teller waiting on us that day was my cousin, Teresa. The anticipation of what kind of candy she would get was almost too much for her.
As Teresa slid the money back out the drive-through window and told us to have a good day, it became clear to Aleita that there was no candy as part of this transaction. As Chris pulled away from the bank, his window wasn’t half rolled up yet and Aleita yelled, “THAT’S OK THAT YOU FORGOT TO GIVE ME CANDY!!”
Well, at least she didn’t ask for it, right?
4 comments:
How fast they grow and learn.
I owe her double next time. I realized my error before you guys had pulled out onto the street. Bad cousin of the day :).
Shame Shame Teresa. How could you! :)
My bank never gives me candy. Maybe I'll move my checking account to Blue Mound. Teresa wouldn't dare fail to give candy to her feeble old uncle, would she?
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