The guy who believed satellites stayed in orbit by means of a really really long electrical cord, the guy who insisted Gold was worth more than platinum, the guy who told me that bending an electrical cord would kink the current and stop it from getting through, the guy who thought I was kidding about breaking his clavicle.
On and on.
This lady though.
She wins.
I was actually beginning to suspect that she must have either had some sort of traumatic brain injury or that her Mother and Father were siblings.
She was everywhere, her shrill voice grating and permeating every available acoustic space to be found.
If I tried to talk or answer questions she was there instantly.
Quicker then instantly.
I would feel a whoosh of displaced air and her voice would screech into existence directly into my neural cortex.
"LOOK!"
Everything she said was preceded by this.
"LOOK!"
And she would point.
The kids were actively hiding from her. Her son had developed a nervous tic at the corner of his right eye and was constantly mumbling to himself. One of the staff, bless her sweet little soul, was trying to distract the moron with shiny things and baubles.
Nothing worked.
She destroyed any and all intellectual growth.
With magnificent pronouncements such as.....
"LOOK! THOSE ARE THE SHOES JESUS WORE!"
at a footwear display.
"LOOK! THIS GUY INVENTED LIGHT AND THE TELEPHONE!"
to a famous picture of Einstein.
"LOOK! RNA! YOU ARE ALL MADE OF LITTLE TINY STRINGS OF RNA!"
to a model of the DNA helix
"LOOK! IF YOU ALL JUMP HARD ENOUGH YOU CAN MAKE THAT LITTLE NEEDLE MOVE!"
At a working seismograph. To her credit she did try.
She was actually quiet for a space after that, her failed attempt to create any sort of Richter measurement by jumping up and down for ten minutes saddened her.
"LOOK! A GIANT BEAR! AND THEY PUT HIS HANDS ON WRONG!"
Its a Giant Sloth. When one of the children pointed out the sign that said "giant ground sloth" attached to the skeleton she guffawed, then screeched.
"LOOK! THE DUMMIES PUT THE WRONG SIGN ON THE GIANT BEAR!"
That kind of self confidence always astounds me. When the whole world is wrong. Don't misunderstand, sometimes the whole world is wrong. But this Lady? The momentous ego was eclipsing the sun and all the other planets. Speaking of which.
"LOOK! PLUTO AIN'T A PLANET NO MORE CAUSE THE DEATH STAR DONE BLOWED IT UP!"
I cant make this shit up. I started laughing. Hard. The hilarity in that and the ridiculousness of this bat-shit human all caught up with me at once and I couldn't stop. I sat down next to the earth model ant farm and laughed until tears were streaming down my face.
She sat down next to me. Used her humongous backpack to push the two kids sitting behind me right off the bench. Leaned in close to me and whisper screeched in my ear.
"look, they put you with these kids to be an example, behave like an adult"
Have you ever heard a hyena choke? Me neither. But I am positive I sounded just like one. I laughed so hard I hurt myself. I just got up and walked away still laughing. Her face got redder and redder until it was purplish. I couldn't talk, I could barely breathe. The kids just stared.
She was apoplectic.
Splendid.
And wonder of wonders. She was quiet. All through the interactive displays, through the botany room, even the Archaeology area. Blissful silence.
Then.
The ultimate.
We walked under the giant skeleton of some long necked Dinosaur. Forty some feet above our heads.
Her son and I, standing quietly under it. He is busy telling me all about it. One of those kids that knows all the names of all the dinos. Obviously his favorite subject. He is just warming up and telling me about its diet and possible coloration when the whoosh of idioport startles us.
"LOOK! ITS A GIANT LONG NECKED TYRANNOSAURUS REX"
Her son, in a very small voice "mother, I think that may be a Barosaurus "
She slaps her kid on the back. Laughing at how cute he is. They are both Alternating looking up at the skeleton and at me.
"LOOK! THESE KIDS, SO CUTE AT THIS AGE, THINK THEY KNOW EVERYTHING!"
and in a whisper screech stage whisper to me
"Its a good thing we get smarter as we get older, otherwise they would believe all sorts of weird stuff"
She walked off then. Leaving me standing with her son.
I said nothing.
What do you say? What could I have said?
The boy looked up at me. Smiled a little and said.
"I really think that I might be adopted"
3 comments:
Smart kid. He may turn out okay.
Wow. Just wow.
If the boy has managed to learn as much as he has in spite of his mom, I'd say there's definitely hope for his future.
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