Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Novice Learns a Trick

This story involves admitting that I fraternized with the vending machine yesterday, but as it was the day before Lent, I’m counting on you all being understanding.

So, I went to the VM, chose to get the Chex Mix, paid, hit “vend”, and… it got stuck. Now, this is often the case with Chex Mix in that machine (okay, so I indulge more often than just on Fat Tuesday), so I went through my normal routine of modestly shaking the vending machine and waiting for some guy to walk by and help me with it. Actually, about half of the time I can get it myself, but about half of the time I end up needing the Strong Guy. :o) [Well, let me make a distinction and say that the guys often offer help me before I get to the point of giving up, so I’m not quite as helpless as I may appear given the stats.]

Okay, back to yesterday: I shook the vending machine and just really wasn’t getting anywhere. A random guy walked by and I could see in the machine’s reflection that he paused and was conflicted about whether to stop or not… and then kept going. Ah, well. I can’t really entirely blame him.

I was just about to either give up or pay for another (chancing just getting one for the price of two), when a couple of gals walked by and noticed me standing in contemplation facing the vending machine. They offered a supportive, “Oh, did something get stuck?” and I replied in the affirmative. Then one of them approached and said, “Yeah, I don’t know if I could get this one myself… ” then turned and body-checked the machine with her bum! And topple-topple, down came my Chex Mix. I was so shocked and happy and tickled that I laughed. I thanked her, and I continued to giggle. I complimented her on her nifty maneuver and she seemed rightly proud. The best was her meek presentation of her skill. All that to say, I learned a new trick!

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