Monday, October 10, 2005

Random stuff

A fire in a garbage can below the 'L' tracks is not a good thing - this happened last week after work. Amazingly, no one around me did anything. There was a guy on the phone right around the area but he wasn't discussing the fire. Another person just headed up the stairs to the train without giving it a second glance. I think I was shocked by the whole thing and my first instinct was to tell someone, a security guard at the next building, and he called 911. I don't know why I didn't call myself, but at least I did something.

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A few years ago, a good friend of mine suggested I use her mechanic, Jack. She had been going to him for a long time and completely trusted him and knew he wouldn't rip me off. The first few times I went to him he was very friendly and I had no problems with his work. His shop was not in the best neighbourhood, but it was worth the trip if I knew I'd be getting my money's worth. Then one day, I had taken my car in for an oil change and he was his usual self...friendly, chatty, just a nice guy. I picked up my car and headed home. About 10 minutes after being at home, as I'm drinking a Coke, I get a call on my cell. It's Jack, wanting to know if I want some Coke. Being a good girl, and slightly naive at this point, I look at my can of Coke and think...what? I have a Coke. Is this guy stalking me or something? With a puzzled look on my face I respond 'Excuse me? I don't think I understood you.' So he asks again 'Do you want some coke?' Again I'm puzzled and respond with 'What?' His reply...'Do you want some cocaine?'

'Ohhhh...ummm...no thanks.' And I gently hang up the phone.

That was my last trip to Jack the mechanic. And my friend...she had no idea he was into that sh*t. I guess he never offered any to her.

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I am shy, or at least I used to be really, really, really shy. My friends may not believe it since I've become much better about it, but there are two instances that stick out in my mind that prove exactly how shy I was.

The first, I was either in Grade 3 or 4, and happened during my figure skating class that I took with my sister. It was during our Patch lesson that things went horribly wrong. Patch is when you have to make a perfect figure eight on the ice. It's very precise and must be done slowly and I hated it. Everyone would go one at a time, and when it was my turn, the coach looked at me and called out 'Okay Carrie, it's your turn.' I was hesitant, but I started to go when my sister suddenly spoke up and said 'Her name's not Carrie! It's FireCracker!' I was mortified. I was happy to play along with the coach, not caring that he didn't know my name because I was too afraid to say anything myself. But having my sister say something just made me look and feel more stupid than I really was. It was horrible.

The second experience was in high school. Granted I had improved immensely over the years, but I still had issues with shyness. I was in Grade 10, Geography with Mr. Gilbert - corn!, sitting in the front row with a couple of my friends Matt & Kim. It was near the end of the year and all I can remember from this class was having Mr. Gilbert ask a question, look at me and ask 'FireCracker, can you tell me the answer?' Before I had a chance to respond, one of the popular guys at school laughs and says 'Who's Firecracker?' Again, mortified. I had been in this class for about 4 months and this guy had no idea who I was. Can you tell I never said a word in class?

I still have bouts of shyness on a regular basis but for the most part I am better about it. It was difficult to learn that being shy was not a good thing and that I needed to change, but as I get older, I've started to learn more about myself, why I do certain things and how they have impacted my life. Shyness was a big problem and to this day it still stops me from doing things I want to do, but I'm working on it - there are even some days where you can't shut me up!

Posted by Maple :: 3:03 PM :: 0 Comments:

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