From the Observation Deck

Like many of you, I’ve been suffering a bit from various ailments this fall. I don’t think I’ve succumbed to the now famous swine flu but my cat did sneeze in my face yesterday and I’m hoping there isn’t a feline flu epidemic about to happen with me being patient zero.

So I’m trying to keep things clean but I have to say that the germ warfare going on out there is scary. I just read an article about grocery stores and how disgustingly dirty shopping carts are. It never occurred to me but it should have. Turns out they are dirtier than public bathrooms. Why I read these articles, I don’t know. Now I’m freaked out and am going to be obsessing over that every time I go shopping. And I’m not really an obsessive type (at least in this area of life).

It makes you wonder how we even survive. We go about our days swapping our germs and dirt yet somehow we get through it. I guess the best we can do is wash our hands of the whole mess. (Okay, ouch, bad pun.) Stay healthy folks, and watch out for your cat, she may have picked something up from the bag of cat food that was in that gross shopping cart.

I believe I’m one of very few people on earth who know what holiday falls on October 24. Don’t ask me how I know—I’m just really smart that way. Or maybe because October 24 is also a personal holiday for me. Are you sufficiently intrigued? Ready to find out what it is? Sitting on pins and needles? Drum roll please…

It’s United Nations Day.

Crickets…

Please at least tell me that you know what the United Nations is. If not, I implore you to look it up. I’ll even give you the link to their Web page. http://www.un.org.

Okay, so maybe that was anti-climactic. But here’s the thing. It’s supposed to be an international holiday. So if it’s a holiday, where is our day off? Where are the barbeques, the fireworks, and the parades? At the very least we should be talking about it and telling our kids about it. After all, the UN’s mission is pretty impressive. Its Web site explains that “The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.”

And just in case you need some proof to show your employer why you should get the day off, here is the proclamation claiming October 24 as a holiday. Happy United Nations Day everyone!

Do you ever watch those stories on the news about weird or tragic events or stories about crazy people causing a lot of chaos and wonder if you’ll ever be caught in the middle of one? I lead a pretty unassuming kind of life so I feel like I’m usually standing on the outside looking in at those events.

Well today as I hopped onboard the DC Metro train I thought I’d look around to find out what people left on the floor and seats and see if that would make a good story. (Last week I saw a stocking and some other random items and started getting curious.) But as luck would have it I was inspired not by the discarded items of my fellow commuters but by a crazy woman.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand it when people get on the train (or plane, bus, etc.) and play their music so loud that I can hear it. In fact just last month I was about to reach over and ask a gentleman to turn down his iPod until I heard that he was listening to that song, Land Down Under. The song choice was so not what I expected that I just laughed and tapped my toes. But I digress.

The guy who got on the train today was playing something (the people around me said it wasn’t music it was noise) loudly and the whole car could hear it. As much as I didn’t like that I also didn’t appreciate the lady sitting next to me who screamed over the aisle to tell him to “Turn that s*&t down.” A moment later we were subjected to listening to her yell at him again. I’m certain he did not hear or see her. When she told him that he had 60 seconds before she would stop the train, I proceeded to get into my tackle position. You see, I was on my way to an interview and there was no way I was going to let her stop me from getting there on time.

I’m not sure she heard me when I told her, “You’re not going to stop this train.” But the guys next to me heard me and I could tell they were going to support their new favorite quarterback if the situation arose. Thank goodness the offending iPod blaster got off at the next stop because I was starting to envision the evening’s news clip. “Desperate Job Seeker Tackles Crazy Cursing Woman on Metro.” She must not have been from around here because everyone knows you don’t mess with DC commuter traffic. Anyway, next time I’ll get the scoop on those stockings.