new loves and old friend: drugstore bully

new loves

shoes ~ Michael Korrs, thrifted

belt ~ thrifted

earrings ~ F21

old friends

dress ~ vintage, thrifted

the week before i started high school, some friends and i were doing our regular friday night thing. it started at the malt shop and ended at the tom thumb convenience store down the block. (what is it with 14-year old kids and convenience stores? why is that a cool place to hang out?) we were at the store and some kids from our "rival" school walked in, and a small argument started. (this is starting to sound like a 50's musical, but i assure you it is all true...and it happened in 1988.) i don't remember the exact words that were exchanged, but they aren't important. what is important is that the woman who worked there was sick of us and said, "listen idiots, i'm not your babysitter." 

now, being a stupid 14-year old who has always had a loud mouth (what. you couldn't tell??), i said something in response to her. again, i can't remember exactly what...something along the lines of, "yeah, that's because you're working here."...something not even good. i mean, if i'm going to piss off the crazy lady at tom thumb, i might as well come up with a good retort!

what happened next is all a blur to me. all i remember is that every one of my friends formed a nice little path for this large and intimidating woman, and that path led straight to me. i started running out of the store as fast as i could. i ran and ran and ran. ok, i ran about three blocks, and she chased me the whole time, just yelling "bitch!" after me. i had my friend's cardigan in my hand and it was flying behind me like a kite that screamed, "grab me". which she did. my only choices were to let go, or get beat up. so i let go (duh). at this point, she stopped chasing me and said, "if you want your sweater back, you know where to find me." was this woman seriously challenging me? i was 14, she was about 35, decked out in black leather and tattoos.

nope, i let her keep the sweater. and my friends joined me down the block (thanks friends for creating that super convenient path for her to chase me down). we began to walk home. we were about six blocks from the store, and all of a sudden, one of my friends falls on her butt. or so we thought. it turned out, she was pulled down, by her hair, to her butt.

the following conversation ensued between my friend (who as you may have figured out looked a lot like me from the back), and the crazy cashier.

"bitch, you wanna say that to my face?"

and with no hesitation, my friend lifted her shaking hand from the ground, pointed at me, and said, 

"it was her!"

again, my friends formed a small circle around this woman and watched the adult/teen fight club that ensued. (again, thanks friends.) (i should mention that i was probably with a mix of about 10 boys and girls...maybe that small circle wasn't so small after all.)

i turned out ok, nothing major. i will tell you this, though...when cartoon characters see stars when they get hit with a frying pan, it's so true. i saw stars that night.

to top off the story, my mom made me go back and get the sweater. she came with me and was so brave and didn't even bat an eye at the woman. we didn't find the sweater, but i was proud of my mom for standing up for me. at least someone did that night!! (kidding friends. you were 14. i still love you all!)

moral of the story....don't be a smart-ass 14-year old. and if you are, don't carry loose clothing that can be grabbed from behind.

xoxo,

megan bird