Mike's Day Off

Friday's adventure started off with getting the girls ready for school quickly so we could head out for our normal Friday routine of getting doughnuts. After making sure my girls ate a hearty and nutritious meal of fried sugar delights for breakfast, I dropped them off for school. I had taken the day off with the idea that I would take Pam's car to Sears to get her some new brake pads, and I could go home and get the lawn done and looking good for the first day of spring. I knew from the start that I was going to run into some issues. It was cold and wet outside with a weather report of showers to come.

My plan was to take the car to Sears, which is at the mall and walk home. We live very close to the mall so it seemed to be the perfect plan. I was the first in line which is always a plus. After dropping off the car, I started to walk home and the sky opened up with a wicked thunderstorm coming down on me. I picked up my pace from walk to a quick sprint. I was soaking wet and cold by the time I got home. It was nothing that forty minutes in the hot tub all by myself couldn't cure!

As I soaked in luxury all by myself, I came up with the brilliant idea of taking a nap. It's not often that I am home all by myself and have nothing but peace and quiet. So I decided to take a little siesta! I woke up from my two hour slumber to find that I missed several phone calls and a bunch of texts. Some were from work, a couple were from Pam, and one was from Sears telling me that Pam's car was ready.

I called Pam to let her know. Being the smart person that she is, Pam was way ahead of me and decided to come home for lunch in case the car was ready despite me avoiding her calls and texts during my moment of peace and tranquility. Pam told me that she would be outside in a few minutes. She already came up with the plan to go to the mall, grab a bite to eat and we could get the car during her lunch hour.

This meant that I was going to have to go inside the mall. How I loathe having to walk into the mall and be amongst the mall people of the world!  I actually loathe just having to go to the mall, and I avoid it at all costs unless absolutely necessary. When I do find myself being forced to go, I get in and out as quickly as possibly.

Interestingly enough there was a time when I liked going to the mall. Not so much to shop, but it was a great place to hangout! Back in my junior high days me and my buddy Brett would spend endless hours and quarters playing Tecmo Bowl with the dreams of getting the high score and being able to put our names on the leader board. We worked endlessly on our game plan to eliminate the number one spot of the high score board that went by the name of Ken. There was nothing like going and eating some mall food after a hard days work at the arcade. Where else could a kid get a delicious slice of pizza from Cozzoli's and wash it down with and Orange Julius? When I was a kid I loved to play some video games and eat mall food. 

The malls were safer back then. At least, to me they seemed that way. No real big problems other than the few punk kids who would spend there money on cigarettes and stand outside and smoke. Today the mall seems dirty and outdated. It's a place that I really don't find myself wanting to be!

My trip to the mall Friday reassured me that it is a thing of the past for me. We had a slice of over priced pizza. After we ate, Pam suggested that we take a couple of laps around the mall. Normally I would balk about walking the mall. Since it was cold and rainy outside, I agreed. 

While we were walking the mall we heard some yelling and could see some commotion taking place at one of the smaller stores. It looked like the police were trying to handcuff a young woman who decided that she did not want to go quietly. It quickly turned into a very loud confrontation with the city's finest doing everything that could to try to calm the woman down and not make a scene. The police were very calm, cool and collected while the woman screamed that she "bought these in Lubbock!" Being the quick witted person that I am, and catching on to things quicker than most, I suggested to Pam that perhaps this was a shop lifting case! Pam nodded in agreement and asked if we might walk a touch closer to get a better look.

As we got closer the woman kept asking the police if they "knew" who she was, and that they would be "sorry when they found out!" Now this brought up an important question to mind. Did she really believe that her loud yelling about 'who she was' would actually make the police stop with the arrest?

Since the threat of who she was didn't stop the police from protecting society, she than made the scary claim that she would "sue and they would be sorry!" Apparently the police were not scared of being sorry in the future, because they continued with walking her down the mall towards the outside.

The woman in custody then made a claim that she for sure thought would get her out of her predicament. She claimed that she was a "highly intelligent person, with several high degrees" and that they "needed to let her go!" Wow, I was impressed with this thought. She must be assuming that a degree allows you to shoplift without any regard to the law. Maybe it was the the fact that she was wearing a hat that said "reckless", with baggy sweat pants, colorful socks pulled up to her knees with a pair of slides on her feet; or maybe it was that her claim of holding "several high degrees" did not allow a free pardon. Whatever it was, the police decided that she needed to go with them.

After the ordeal at the mall Pam suggested I go back to work with her and take care of the texts I got earlier. I agreed and spent a little time working on my day off. We were soon on our way home and decided to pick the girls up from school so they would not have to wait in the rain. 

 Later that evening, Delaney had soccer practice, AK was at a friend's house and Pam was going out with her "Book Club" or as I call it "Wine Club". Interestingly enough, they seem to do a lot of stuff other than read books. While everyone was away I decided to check out the claims from the apprehended woman earlier at the mall. Now it is important to point out that I am not a high intelligent person; however, I do hold three degrees. I went to look at my degrees to see if it was, in fact, true that if you held one then you were free to steal. 

After a long day of rain, getting the car fixed, seeing a crime take place, going to work on my day off, and having Pam coming home from "Book Club" with a piece of artwork that she painted.  I feel that it is my civic duty to report that after careful review of all three of my degrees, that in no way, shape or form does it state anywhere that I am free to steal. After all the claims, it appears that Pam and I witnessed an unintelligent person, wearing a hat that said 'reckless', without any degrees, commit a crime that she was going to have to pay society back for. And you still ask yourself, why does Mike hate the mall so much?