the rix mix

Apparently, my vibe was less grim today because several people actually thought
me approachable. On the way to the supermarket, a small car pulled over & a
man waved at me. I thought he needed directions. I'm very good at advising
drivers how to get OUT of Elizabeth. In town, I can get them to the county
courthouse, hospital, Route One, & the large Jewish Educational Center, that's
about it. But he thought my small folding bike was a big electric scooter &
wanted to look at it. He saw right away it was a bike. Since I hate motorized
scooters, this gave me an unusual opportunity to inform someone that they are
illegal on public thoroughfares in Jersey. What about sidewalks? That's even
more against the law, I said. If you can't legally register it, insure it, & put plates
on it, you can't drive it in a public space, roads, sidewalks, or parks. You can
look it up. But, he said, he sees lots of them. Oh yeah, I replied, but not for long.
The man & the woman next to him seemed 75% convinced. But I 'm right. The
idiot who buys one rides it until he gets in an accident, it breaks, or a cop takes it
away. The cops in Elizabeth tend to wait for one of the first two events. In
Rahway they were less tolerant. Stores that sell these dangerous machines never
tell buyers that they aren't legit motor vehicles; one might think that would be
obvious, but one would be wrong. Some people are so stupid that they think the
rest of us are stupid for not realizing it's perfectly within the law to drive one the
wrong way down a one way street at rush hour. Hypothetically, they could be
nailed with about ten violations, most of which carry points. I don't know how
points apply to 15 year olds without licenses. You can't even drive a properly
registered moped in Jersey over 25 mph & you still need to have a motorcycle
license & get it through inspection, which is why they're so rare.

Then, at the supermarket, an elderly lady asked me where the frozen Armour
breakfast sausages on sale were. I said I think I know but I don't work here. She
said, yes, but you look like you know where you're going. Which is true in the
Pathmark. Well, I'm quite sure they're at the end of the next aisle but I'll check
with this guy stocking the soda. Yep, aisle 18. I encountered her later, she had
about 10 small boxes of breakfast sausages & thanked me very nicely. Another
woman passing by asked me if she could get a rain check if they were out of her
favorite sausage flavor. You can if you insist, I said, but you'll have to go to the
service counter & wait in line. There's certain types of personalities that are
magnets to old people who need help with small matters. My dad had it, in a
friendly take-charge way. So did a molecularly pacifistic woman I lived with for
many years.

I was feeling less grim because I made an appointment with a local dentist. This is
a major hurdle for those of us with phobias & serious dental problems. It tests the
outer limits of both fears & insurance. You can buy your way past the phobia,
just look at the dentist ads in the phone book, but it will cost you plenty. I just
hope this dentist, a Russian emigre who comes recommended for kindness,
doesn't gasp in shock. But it's better to start with her than going to the University
clinic in Newark, where the teachers have seen everything but the students who
do the actual work certainly haven't.