That Year

A decade or so ago I was having a rough year. I thought to myself that everyone has a hard year once in a while and I must be having one of them.

Little did I know.

Beginning last September I have been having one of those years. For 12 months I have had the highest stress, the most problems, and the most emotionally draining experiences of my life. I think this is the year that will forever live in my memory as "That Year".

It began when a year ago my Dad took a turn for the worst and was hospitalized for 21 days in the ICU. Since then we have had everything from my Dad's death in May to threatening letters from the IRS to one of our kids being fired from 2 jobs (one his fault and one not) to Mike's city job being threatened by firing (politics), to health issues, and on and on and on.

I think you have to keep a sense of humor or you might lose your sanity. Something happened last night that I am still shaking my head over. "Did that really happen?" It was so ridiculous that I still have a hard time believing that it really happened.

It all started when Andy was fired from his night watering job. He would go set the water in all the city parks to water the grass and then go back every few hours to change them. The city's park's director (an idiot) kept getting mad at Andy for not keeping the parks green. He gave Andy 10 days to green everything up. Andy watered day and night 7 days of the week for those 10 days. On the 10th day Andy left to go put the first set on at around 10 pm. He was home again in 30 minutes very upset. He was fired because the grass was not green. Mike has been butting heads with this idiot park director for 2 years now (Mike works for recreation, but has to use the parks tools all the time) and was quite put out at the treatment Andy received. He told the mayor that in talking with some lawn-care people they stated that the grass would never green up unless it was fertilized. The mayor told the director, they fertilized, and lo and behold - the grass turned green.

Meanwhile they had hired a new night watering guy. Andy was not getting his job back. I think idiot fired Andy as a way to hurt Mike. He's kind of like that.

Now fast forward 6 weeks to the middle of August. I have the habit of going to the park at around 9 pm to walk. Mike works on the chemicals for the splash park and I walk the path, putting in my 2 miles. I was getting more and more irritated at the doofus (I call him doofus because of the ridiculous outfit he wears while watering complete with large black garbage bags tucked around his waist like an apron, rubber boots, and fishing hat on his head with a miners light on top) who waters the parks now. He was starting earlier and earlier. The parks are supposed to be open until 11:30 pm, but he was watering at a little after 9. And for some reason instead of watering the middle of the park first, he watered the edges, right on the walking path. I was dodging the spray every night!

Mike had talked to him about starting too early, but he refused to change.

Last night I went with Mike at 9:00 and started my walk. When I had made one round I noticed that doofus was circling the park in his pickup. I saw the pickup park over by the splash park and thought I was going to have to dodge sprinklers again.

I made another round, and as I approached the splash park I saw doofus heading right towards me. I tried to keep my head down and avoid eye contact but he started speaking to me. He said, "excuse me, are you going to be walking much longer?" I said I had 2 more rounds. He said, "I'll wait until you're done before I start the water if that's okay." I was very surprised and thought "hmmmmm, maybe he's not as much of a horse's heiny as I thought he was.

Wrongo!

I made another round of the park, and when I approached the splash park I saw Mike standing on the path waiting for me. I asked him what doofus said to him.

He said he couldn't repeat it.

I thought he was kidding. "No really, what did doofus say to you?"

Mike said he really couldn't repeat it because there was so much profanity in it he didn't want to shock me.

Apparently, Mike was in the chemical room, checking the water, pumps and everything else and doofus opens the door and walks in. Mike half turned around to see who was there and doofus immediately started swearing at him and yelling and said he was going to throw Mike in the pit where the pumps were (doofus is about 60, I doubt he could move Mike 6 inches). Mike said he just very calmly kept saying, "please leave, please leave". Doofus then said that Mike better not write any more letters complaining about the early watering, blah blah blah" (Apparently someone wrote a letter, not Mike, complaining about the same things we were complaining about). At one point when Mike said, "please leave" doofus said, "you just threatened me. I'm filing charges."

What? You gotta be kidding me!

Mike finally said, "if you're not going to leave, then I am."

That's when doofus decided to leave.

As he went out the door, doofus turned around and said,

(I still can't believe this)

"Do you want me to shut the door, Mike?"

Uhhhhhh, did I miss something here? Weren't you just threatening my husband with bodily harm and now you are being all Mr. Politeness?

The more I think about it the more convinced I am that Mr. idiot park supervisor sent doofus to try and engage Mike in a fight so that he could charge Mike with assault. Mike is strong and healthy and doofus is a tottering old doofus. I'm so glad Mike refused to rise to the bait.

Still, it's very disturbing. I really hope Mike quits working for the city. It's just so unpredictable now and I can't see it getting any better.