Then The Monkey

Heavenly hosts sing "alleluia" -- today was the first day of school in our district.

To celebrate, Esteemed Husband and I fulfilled our suburban-couple-with-no-kids-to-care-for requirements: we took a long walk around the development (rejoicing in the lawns that are just as weedy and overgrown as ours!) had sushi for lunch, Starbucks frappuccinos for dessert (I think EH would recommend the raspberry-mocha variety) and topped off our walk-on-the-mild-side excursion by heading to Trader Joe's for trail mix and dark chocolate.

It is as we approached this last stop that my story begins...

Rounding the corner in our suburbia-approved SUV (I'm still full of disdain for the SUV btw...I will try and work my evil sedan influence on EH when this lease ends) we spotted a small cluster of folks at a folding table outside the Trader Joe's.

Hanging from the side of the table was a poster/sketch of the current president of the U.S. (who I like to refer to as "He Who Should Not Have Been Elected") looking very Alfred E. Neuman-ish.

Written under the picture was: "Like a Rock -- Only Dumber."

EH and I got a little chuckle out of that, and I was not-so-secretly pleased to see something controversial in our little neck of stepford-urbia.

I was really wishing I had my camera with me...but descriptions will have to suffice.

Seeing the name "LaRouche" on some other flyers hanging from the table discouraged us from actually approaching the 2 or 3 folks manning it as we left our car and walked towards the store. They didn't seem to be actively trying to attract our attention either.

Just inside the entrance of the Trader Joe's was a large sign. (Again, a camera would have been really helpful!) At the top: "You have the right to distraction-free shopping" and it went on to say that no one was allowed to solicit/politicize/etc. on store property. (Evidently the little grassy triangle the LaRouche camp had their table on by their front entrance did not fall under the store's jurisdiction.)

The Trader Joe's sign ended by telling customers to "feel free to ignore" people at "cheap plastic folding tables."

So obviously the diatribe was specifically aimed at the folks outside. Unveiled hostility - awesome!

For me, this little spat made the whole shopping experience one-thousand-times better. I practically skipped through the crowded store aisles, not even the least bit annoyed by the overabundance of marginally-rude customers that Trader Joe's seems to attract.

On the way out, I really wanted to do something -- give the table-crew a thumbs-up or whatever. But, the LaRouche connection is a little bit scary -- I'm anti-Bush, not crazy. So I just smiled in their general direction.

Mostly because several of the posters hanging from the table read:

"IMPEACH CHENEY NOW

THEN THE MONKEY"

Tee hee.

Yeah, I'm easily amused. Even so, this was the best first day of school ever!