Did you ever get up in the morning, go about your business, and realize it was "one of those days?" Wacky days begin with small events that can become big ones. Recently my husband and I had one of the wackiest days ever.
Wood flooring was being installed in our bedrooms. Our floor expert, a true artisan, had started to varnish the floors. He was using oil-based paint and the smell was so strong we decided to go to a movie. When we returned from the movie our floor expert was waiting for us in his truck. "What's up?" my husband asked.
"I have good news and bad news," he replied. "Which do you want first?"
We chose the bad news and it was quite bad. Our floor expert had tripped as he was walking down the stairs and spilled a can of varnish on our new carpet. Varnish had dripped down the steps and splashed onto two walls. But that wasn't the only wacky event.
Our grandson had stayed home to watch television in the basement. The basement door was closed. While he was watching television he was also trying to call a local store. Somehow, and he doesn't know how, my grandson pushed the panic button on our alarm system. Within minutes, two police cars pulled up in front of the house and officers got out with guns drawn.
At the time our floor expert was working in the corner of a bedroom. He saw a shadow in his peripheral vision, turned around, and saw two tense policemen and two guns. What a shock! Meantime, our grandson heard "too many footsteps" upstairs and went to investigate. When he opened the basement door he was confronted by the officers and drawn guns. "Didn't you hear us ringing the doorbell and shouting police?" an officer asked.
Unfortunately, you can't hear the doorbell when the basement door is closed. Frankly, I would like to shoot the doorbell myself. It plays "There's No Place Like Home," a song that could make anyone gag. The song can be changed, but we don't know how to do it because we don't have the directions.
The next day my granddaughter, a careful driver, borrowed my car for the afternoon. Though it is three years old my car still looks new. Well, it used to look new. As she backed out of the parking space my granddaughter scratched another car. She called and gave me this news tearfully. "It's a small scratch, grandma," she said. But the scratch looks like a $450-$500 repair job to me.
How did we respond to our wacky days? We accepted the facts, stayed calm, and had a few laughs. My grandson has promised to be more careful when he dials the phone. Three weeks have passed and we are still waiting for the insurance company to act on the floor expert's claim for the damaged carpet. The bumper of my car hasn't been fixed yet and I hope to get that done next week.
What does wacky mean? According to The Free Dictionary website, wacky is a slang word and means odd, eccentric, or crazy. It can also mean ludicrous and foolish. Our wacky days were all of these things. I'm glad we don't have them too often!
Copyright 2008 by Harriet Hodgson
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