David Needs To Take A Trip Outdoors

Because I don't want to be witness to insanity anymore!

It seems that whenever I step out my front door, the world is all, "Holy crap, Chantel's out...Quick, throw something her way!"

Here's a few highlights of the summer.

**We're enjoying a pleasant day at the park. It's actually nice out. It isn't overly crowded like it usually is. There is only one camper. People are swimming. Kids are running and laughing. Then, they show up. A family of 3. The mom gets out of the car with a baby that looks to be about 18 months old. The dad wonders off gabbing on his cell phone. The mom grabs her daughter by the arm, swings her into the sand and then immediately starts screaming at the girl. I mean, she is echoing through the park. She takes the girl to the swimming beach, strips her down naked and starts wading into the water with her. All the swimmer's freeze. One of them looks at her and says, "Um, shouldn't you put a diaper on her?" The mom looks around, screams at the baby, and then takes her back to the car. The baby, upset by being taken from the water, starts to throw a fit. This makes mom scream more. Dad is sitting on a swing, gabbing away on his cell phone watching the scene unfold. Toddler still screams, which makes mom scream louder. At this point, I decided I'd had enough of this scene. I grabbed my kids and booked it. So much for a nice day at the park.

**While grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, I see a family of 7. It looks like 4 adults and 3 kids. While picking out produce, I see the little girl in the group, maybe she's about 6, being a normal 6 year old while shopping. You know, hyper, jumping, talking to everyone. One of the adults in the groups was holding a baby. The girl was kind of slapping her leg. Ethan does this to me all the time while we're shopping. It never bothers me. Apparently, it bother's this woman, because she places the baby in the car seat, and kicks the girl in the thigh. The girl whines. The woman says, "How do you like it?" I look at her and say, "Yeah, because that's the same." The family looks at me. The woman puts her arm around the girl and the family quietly moves on.

**The bar in town is also a restaurant. They make great burgers. On a lazy night when they are offering a bargain on their food, we order some burgers. I head out to pick them up. The bar is relatively quiet on a Friday night. I stand at the bar and pay for my food. They are finishing it, so I wait. That's when I notice the man at the bar staring at me. He orders a drink, and immediately spills it all over himself because he's watching me. Now, it's not unusual, because it is a normal thing that whenever I go to this bar, people stare. I'm the new chick in town wearing an Arizona Cardinals hoodie. It is, however, unusual that this guy is staring so hard and spilling things on himself in the process. Can you say creepy? I'm given my food. I thank the bartender, and get the hell outta there. I hop in my car, look up and see that guy staring at me through my windshield. He followed me out of the bar! I book it and take a totally different route home, which is not easy to do in such a small town.

I'm just hoping for something normal to happen this summer. I really am. I'm ready for normal. Really, really ready for normal.