I love this thread..a good change from venting my spleen on "Guns".

My friends and I used to talk about how great it was to be four all the time, but I'll take six too.

My father used to stand behind mothers who were scolding their children in grocery stores--perfect strangers, mind you--and lean in and say "YEAH!" at a strategic moment. Certainly diffused the situation, and shocked the hell out of people too.

I was really stressed out the otherday--called in to work on my day off, lost my keys, picked a fight with my roommate, no one to play with--and I took a time-out to read my book at an outdoor cafe. As I was sitting there, with the late afternoon sunlight coming down and a bunch of happy people milling about, making plans for Saturday night and preening in their newly unearthed summer clothes, I noticed a scene taking place at the next little patio area over, which was a Vietnamese restaurant. An older woman, dining alone, was having trouble using her chopsticks, and the waiter spent about 10-15 minutes tutoring her. She was so happy about the attention, and he was so sweet and unhurried...it was a very nice tableau. And then someone across the street by the metro started playing the guitar, very mellow and sort of meandering, playing snathes of tunes. Anyway, it made my bad mood evaporate(and my bad moods are nothing to sneeze at).

Just thought I'd share

Cara