LAFOLOT

It’s April 18, 2010 and I’m having a SILLY SUNDAY!

The first clue about this Sunday being SILLY and SPECIAL was the fact that BOTH my Alpha female cat ‘Kitty’ and my Alpha male cat, ‘Buddy’ decided it was OK for both to come and sleep on the bed with me at the same time! Is the world coming to an end? What a miracle!

I spent the morning relaxing and listening to the Sunday morning jazz stations ‘mellow music’ show. Ahhhhhhh -
While listening to the music, I opened Facebook and checked on my ‘Life is a Song‘ coupon special, book AD. I was getting ‘clicks’ and all was well. I hone my marketing and advertising skills by making general observations about Facebook activity, so I spent some time doing that.

Then it was time to get out of the house and make use of my A.C. Moore Craft store, fifty percent off coupon, that so diligently gets e-mailed to me every Sunday morning! I’m a VALUED A.C. Moore club card holder, you know! I AM SPECIAL! But first, lunch at Olive Garden! Going out to eat works well for visibility in my marketing and advertising.

I like to park farther out in the parking lot when I make the trip to these two places so I get some exercise. So I treck over to the restaurant which has a 15 minute wait; but that’s okay because I get ‘face time’ and unexpected advertising when I sit in the lobby and wait with the crowd. Marketing marketing marketing! While waiting, we heard ‘CRASH’! I announced: ‘YEAH!’ The one host looked at me. I said: ‘Well, it’s done, why get worked up? Just sweep up the glass! He revealed to me that it is such a common occurrent, when he is waiting on tables and entire trays go crashing to the floor, he doesn’t miss a beat with his order taking!

I had been given one of those beeper disks that is supposed to light up and buzz when it is your turn to be seated. One of the friendly hosts called over to me: ‘Helen, you should have ‘GONE OFF’.” I looked up and laughed! I pulled the device out of my pocket, it wasn’t flashing or buzzing. I respond: ‘Well, I’m in a good mood at the moment, I don’t have any need to GO OFF on anyone!’ (insert smile or laugh here) When I handed it to her, THEN it started it’s commotion! Too late buzzer-lightup thingy, I’m already getting seated!

I got one of the young, handsome, great smile, servers and had a nice lunch. Over the half-wall from the niche where I was seated (containing 3 other tables) was a family with toddlers. You could hear the fun, giggling, and squeels of the kids. A new couple got sat when I was almost finished. At one point, the little girl let out such a squeal of GLEE that it shreeked through the area. I just laughed out loud, because I thought it was fun. The lady across from me winced. My handsome, friendly, great smile server brought me my check along with a ‘Comment Card’. This was new. ‘OOOOOOH! A CHANCE TO WRITE SOMETHING SILLY’, I SAID! He just laughed, not being worried.

I had my daily meditation magazine with me, so I joked I was going to pull a profound quote out of the periodical and write it on the card. I was laughing and chuckling as I wrote on the back: ‘THE OBSTACLE IS THE PATH.” Tao Then I noted he was a friendly server and had a great smile! ha ha ha Enough SILLINESS there, I left and headed over to A.C. Moore Crafts to use my coupon!
woo hoo!

While getting my walking exercise in, returning my periodical to my car so I wouldn’t have to take it into the store; I heard a vibrating, rumbling noise. I looked up. I saw a truck with an appliance in the truck bed, with bubble wrap all around it. The bubble wrap was making a buzzing noise like when you put a baseball card clipped to a bycycle tire spoke as a kid.

I waited for the man to get out of his truck and hollered: ‘Sir! You ought to drive your truck all around more and have some fun with the bubble wrap making that buzzing noise!’ He smiled and laughed, agreeing with me. He said he had heard it and it reminded him of the baseball card bit on bycycle tires, too!

As I got to the A.C. Moore store entrance, a husband was DUTIFULLY leaning against the stone pillar in front of the store. His wife was shopping in the bins outside the store. I called out: ‘Sir! Just keep holding that column up for me while I shop in the store!” He smiled and said he’d do his best!

I got the chance to give a plug for my book, when I went to the checkout! I forgot I was wearing my AD button: ‘LIFE IS A SONG IN THE KEY OF LOVE’ by Helen Marie Szollosy, www.lafolot.com. The cashier was looking at it with a quizzical look on her face.

[an aside: When I was in a woman's clothing store the day before, the sales clerk said, as she prepared a changing room for me: 'Your name's Helen?' 'Yes.' I answered. Wondering how she knew? Then, last evening, I went to an art gallery showing. An artist I was talking to said: 'I know I've seen your name in an e-mail I received recently.' I laughed and said: 'Oh! You're reading my book advertising button!' I forgot my name was on it! Plus, I was thrilled someone had forwarded and e-mail or youtube video of mine to her!]

I said, ‘OH! That advertises my book.’ She was excited, ‘You wrote a book?’ ‘Yes!’ I was thrilled for the opportunity to toot my own horn! It ‘just so happened’ – tee hee – that I had my mini-marketing tools for my book in my purse! I whipped one out and gave it to her; explaining it was about ‘appreciating life in ALL its forms of expression.’ I mentioned it was an autobiographical/philospophical discussion on learned but not felt, bias and prejudice. Her face lit up! She was a caucasian woman and told me her husband is African-American. I let her know that book was about ALL types of bias. I gave her a couple more marketing cards and told her to feel free to pass it on.

She asked if the book was in stores, and I let her know it was self-published, it could be gotten at my website, that I had had a book signing in Carlisle, PA , recently, etc. She thanked me and I left.

When I made my next trip to the grocery store, I got to have more fun. When I got to the dairy section to pick up eggs, an employee had a HUGE cart filled with eggs, as he was stocking the area. I walked around the cart, he was sitting on the floor. I said: ‘I SEE YOU ARE UP TO YOUR ARMS AND LEGS IN EGGS!’ He started to laugh and said: ‘Hey! I like that! That’s egg-actly what I am!’

So, finished with my SILLINESS, I headed home, with a smile and a chuckle.

MAY YOU ENJOY A SILLY DAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE!

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT
Live Life! Laugh Often!
and let your silly side out and keep your sunny side up!
www.lafolot.com
[this blog can also be seen at VIBRANT NATION under blog circle name: Helenoflafolot]