I had an interesting thing happen on my way to Baton Rouge to help my son pick out a new apartment for the fall semester at LSU. I left Houston around 11 am and had to make two stops during the four+ hour drive. The first stop went off without a hitch. I’m still left wondering when will gas stations create a pump handle that does not require one to use two hands to keep that costly gas pouring into a gas tank. It had been lightly raining for most of the trip but the last 20 minutes was a solid downpour and I needed another stretch break.
The second stop at a Shell convenience store found me following a skink (or lizard, for all ya’ll not from the south) down the potato chip aisle in the convenience store. Mind you, he was dressed for the occasion, dressed to match the motled brown and gray tile beautifully. I happened to look up at the cashier and said, “Did you know you have a skink running down your potato chip aisle?” She thought I said ‘a snake’ and ran completely around the checkout counter, all the while saying, “if there is a snake in this store, I’m leaving.” Now, I’m a very soft spoken person so I could understand her confusion, so I was nice enough to say in my most effective teacher-voice, “no a lizard.” She calmed right down and laughed at the confusion. I poured my self a cup of hot coffee, looking for the well-dressed patron but he had scurried away somewhere. As I approached to pay for my beverage, I noticed a local policeman chatting with the cashier. It’s a good thing I didn’t take advantage of my accidental diversion….
