Random curmudgeonliness

I've got to talk about a friend and neighbor that I walk with every day. She is smart, friendly, and a really good human being. She will pick up trash or remove debris from clogged gutter drains, she will secretly mow lawns or shovel snow for deserving individuals. She roots for the underdog (usually) and supports the downtrodden and the mentally ill (mostly) and is a good, strong liberal in a red state.

But, she has inexplicable episodes of random curmudgeonliness that I cannot explain. A few months ago, she relayed a story to R and I of an evening out at a restaurant where the young child in the booth next to hers annoyed her and her party to no end. The little one was not crying or screaming or behaving badly, he just was peeking over the back of his booth trying to make eye contact in that way little ones sometimes do. She said it interrupted her evening because the parent wouldn't control the child. It is possible the child crossed over from cute to annoying because that happens sometimes. Still, R and I told her that we usually like it when a little one wants to watch or visit with us and we always respond. She said she ignored him because she couldn't stand that kind of behavior. And in case you are wondering, she has a nearly 3-year-old grandson that she adores although she is disdainful of baby talk or babyishness. I hope he is forewarned.

Later, on another morning, she asked us what we thought of the AT&T commercials where the guy is sitting around a child's table or on the floor with a group of young children, asking them questions and listening to and responding to their answers. We told her that we had just talked about how funny and fresh we found the commercials. She said she found the children fakey and annoying and not at all funny. She preferred the commercial with the guy called "Mayhem" who falls down the stairs while pretending to be a housekeeper. Ohhhh-kaaay. She said she was going to take a poll of her own to show us that most people hated the AT&T commercials. I asked about it at work and found that the AT&T commercials were well-liked among my staff. She later on said she read that those commercials use both actor and non-actor children which she found surprising, although she never revealed the results of her poll.

This week, when we raised the topic of Diana Nyad's 110 mile ocean swim, she said she was "sick of hearing about Diana Nyad." Huh? She said it was a ridiculous thing to try, and why would anyone do it. She said Diana was too old (at 64, Diana is about 2 years younger than our friend) and it took her five tries for heaven's sake. Then she said it annoyed her that she began her swim in Cuba and who gets to go to Cuba? No one!

We were taken aback. I asked her if she was more annoyed with Diana or her own inability to get to Cuba. She said the Cuba thing really made her mad. We told her we thought it was quite a feat, and must have been a personal challenge that compelled Nyad to attempt the swim. I believe she grunted, or huffed. I'm not sure which.

We have come to accept her quirky dislikes. She is still a good friend and will often bring us movies that she's rented or send me pictures or videos she knows I will like. We don't know when the randomness of her curmudgeonliness will strike, but we accept it and don't hold it against her.

And I expect she has the exact same thoughts about our random saccharinity. She puts up with a lot.