gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth, only i don't know how they got out, dear....

my friends are not always friend-ly. at church on sunday, one of them made me revisit the scene of my aforementioned paint/"haiti" debacle. the paint stain was indeed still there...fortunately katie was not. i still grimace when i think about the whole thing. so, in honor of that night, here are the top two most embarrassing first meetings with girls i mentioned.

setting 1: summer 2000, working at structure in the mall. i'd had a crush on one of the girls working at express, but knew nothing about her, not even her name. i was quite content just looking at her through the breezeway connecting our stores, as, once again, i'm completely shallow. this process of her walking by and me looking at her had been going on all summer. and then it happens. tax free weekend. the entire mall is packed full of parents and their rotten children who unfold every shirt they can, sans intent to buy or regard for the employee holding a folding board standing next to said shirt. anyway, all employees are present, and i'm very happy that i am in the back room folding all day, thereby avoiding the chaos on the floor. this back room is common to both structure and express. so, as i'm folding, the girl walks in to get something from stock. she looks at me and says, "pretty crazy out there, eh?" i look at her, open my mouth to respond something like "yes, please, thank you," but i can't even manage that. so i do the next best thing and give her...a thumbs up. total choke. my chest still hurts when i think about it. i don't think i ever saw that girl again.

setting 2: spring 2004, hanging out at a friend's clothing shop. she has a friend in the store whom i'd never met. she introduces us and we chit chat about our lives and things. it's going well, i suppose-- i'm not trying to hit on her or anything, just get to know her. there is a lull, and my friend tells me that this person is going to nursing school. this interjection catches me off guard for some reason, and i have no real response to it. so, being the quick thinker i am, i give her...a thumbs up. actually that's a lie, but it might be better than what i really said. "nursing school...i like nurses." painful right? well hang on. i had no idea why i had said this and quickly realized it was not an appropriate response. so, to cover for this faux pas, i say, "nurses are good." this did not make me feel any better about the situation. i don't think i ever saw that girl again.