I was talking with a friend in my front yard today, when a stranger came down the driveway.
She wanted to know if at least one of us lived here. I acknowledged that I did, said goodbye to my friend, &
turned to her to ask what, if anything, I could help her with.
She told me she was visiting her sister-in-law next door, who was ill, & was offering the outdoor deck plants to me if I wanted them.
We went through the side yard gate & went to my neighbors place, a lady I had never seen. She introduced me to her husband, a very nice man, & we discussed what they wanted me to remove.
The lady of the house, my neighbor, came out & after introductions all around, we went indoors as she was offering that I take more items. I told her that I could take the plants with my truck & some of my workers on Thursday, if that was fine with her.
She then asked me if I liked "figurines". She brought one over & I was a little surprised as she handed it to me, & told me I could have all of them.
There were many assorted carvings & busts around the place. She went off to answer the phone & I talked with her brother & sister-in-law, till she returned. At that point, a man walked in & wanted to know what was going on, & what I was doing there.
I then recognized him, as a man who rents a room, below the lady`s house.
I had talked to him over the lower yard fence about removing a large tree limb that had broken off of one of the boundary trees & was straddling the property line. I did remove it at that time.
He was a little obnoxious, but I brushed it off.
The lady of the house, noticing the uncomfortable haze of rudeness, asked me quietly for my phone number, & that she would call me in a while.
Half an hour later, she called & wanted to meet me in the side yard to give me something. I told her it was not necessary but she insisted. I didn`t really understand the "why" of this gift.
I went to meet her, & she handed me the bust she had shown me earlier. As we talked, again, the man who had interjected himself into the group inside the house, showed up, and asked what was going on.
She told him she was giving me a gift, & that she would talk to him later.
Since we had been introduced in her house earlier, he was using my name when addressing me. He then told me to give the bust back to the lady, & that I was being irrational.
I told him I could easily explain what irrational meant, & that ordering me to give back a gift from a third party, would be part of the explanation process.
He then said that he meant she was being irrational, & not me, again using my name. He said he did not even know me.
I told him that since he did not know me, he was to only address me as "Sir" from that moment on.
I left.
Tomorrow, I`ll conclude with what hopefully will be the end of this little tale, although, trust me, it is not very nice.
I must tell you though, that no one came to any harm, physically.
I took a few shots of the bust, a carving in some exotic wood from somewhere in the orient.
Have a nice day, & remember, I`m always available to help strangers in need.
