Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Downside of Walking

Unfortunately, if you walk a lot, you sometimes end up bumping into an acquaintance you would rather not run into.

Yesterday evening, I was bopping down the street when I ran into this guy, let's call him MJ because he used to be a pot dealer. I didn't like MJ too much to begin with, and I REALLY haven't liked him since he sent a gloating email to me and a bunch of my friends after Kerry lost the election in 2006. Way to be a sore winner, dude.

But MJ is one of those people who is completely imperceptive to a frosty tone, and I'm not great at just brushing past someone when they say hello. So I had to endure five minutes of agonizing small talk on the sidewalk.

"What have you been up to?" he asked me.

"Oh, this and that," I replied. "You?"

"I'm great! I'm in the oil business!"

"Oil? What kind of oil?" I asked stupidly thinking that maybe he was making his own cooking oil or something, which actually would be kind of cool.

He laughed. "You know. Oil. Like oil wells. Cuz see, there were all of these wells that closed down when oil was so cheap, but now that oil has gone up, it's worth re-opening, you know?"

"Huh," I responded, not really knowing what to say at this point. "That's a pretty limited business."

"Oh, for sure, for sure, it's limited. But you know, it's good for now. Might as well be making some cash on the other side of the pump, right?"

"Yeah. I've got to go," I mumbled and walked off as fast as I could.

I mean, really. I think he should have stuck to the pot. At least marijuana is a renewable resource.

7 comments:

Jennie said...

that's funny. Hemp would be more eco friendly if we could grow it for use in the US. I hate that it takes oil to get the raw product here.

Anonymous said...

Too funny. Also burning pot may generate less CO2 than burning oil. I also see the potential hazard of walking. Every so often I run into people who talk my ears off. But your pot dealer still beats my boring long talkers :)

ruchi said...

Just to be clear, he was never MY pot dealer. He merely was once A pot dealer. :)

Sam said...

I guess you are not as obnoxious as me. I just walk away from people that bug me...even in mid conversation.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a tool. That's why sunglasses and headphones are my best friends, even though the music isn't always on and is never loud enough to interfere with hearing things around me. If I run across someone I'd rather not deal with, it's easy enough to pretend I never saw/heard them trying to get my attention.

Of course, I'm admittedly avoidant/socially phobic, for whatever that's worth.

Jeanne said...

Funny post! Love it!

Going Crunchy said...

Shiver.......