“Typical” Obama Supporter
I apologize in advance for what appears to be my inability to drop what may seem to be a very petty issue. But I’d like to share with you something that happened to me recently that perfectly illustrates my point about the need to instill our children with character.
Last Saturday I had two girls (sisters) over for a playdate. As I live “in the sticks”, I met up with them at the so-called halfway point, which for me meant a 40 minute drive from my home. The girls played games, did a craft, ate lunch and various other playdate activities. I then drove them back to meet their mother, another 40 minutes. During the drive, one of the girls, with no warning, vomited all over the back of my Jeep - my brand new Jeep Commander. When we got to the meeting point, I told the mother what happened, only to be told that the girl frequently gets carsick. I got a “sorry” from the mom, nothing from the girl.
I was quite irritated and surprised that I received no help in cleaning my Jeep. At the very least, she could have looked at the mess I had to deal with. Her son did and he ran away gagging and screaming “Eww, gross, it smells like our van.” Yeah, he actually said that.
The drive home was torture - all windows down, heads hanging out, 36* degrees outside. I spent an hour cleaning the leather and carpet. I had to leave the doors open all night. On Sunday, I invested $30 and another hour in trying to eradicate the aroma. On Monday, two more hours and $50 to have the carpet steamed clean - not the whole Jeep, just the one area. The result - it smells like vomit and perfume.
It’s Wednesday, four days later and no word from the mother - the one who chastised me for letting the girl read in the car because, apparently, she gets sick. (Don’t you think it would have been helpful to know this in advance?) I even sent an email asking for advice - no reply yet. As for my Jeep, the stench is unbearable. I’m now experiencing phantom smells - I’ve torn apart at least three rooms in my house in the last four days looking for hidden puke. The smell of vomit has permeated my brain. Did I mention the girls had mac & cheese, carrot sticks, milk and chocolate cake for lunch? Yeah, that’s what she upchucked all over my Jeep.
So, I’m sorry if anyone is offended by this, but this is the focus of my week - how to get the new car smell back into my Jeep (or any unoffensive smell for that matter.) I could not care less that Obama went on vacation, McCain has surged in the polls and Hillary has once again proven herself to be an imaginative fraud. Really, I could not care less. It is going to cost me nearly $400 to have the interior of my Jeep detailed and steam cleaned and I’m told that probably won’t work.
Is this what we’ve come to in America? Is there no shame? Your kid blows (big) chunks all over someone’s Jeep and you brush it off as a mere inconvenience? What does this teach the children? Wow, I though I knew her better.
I told my daughter no more playdates. She didn’t even argue - probably because she has to ride in my Jeep everyday. Well, they are officially off the Christmas card list. Of course they were off the list anyway because it turns out hey are Obama people. Hmm, I guess I’m not that surprised after all.
P.S. If you have any ideas about how to get the stink out, let me know. I’m dreading the next three days - lots of rain.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Comment by Tim on 26 March 2008:
maybe, you’re a bit of a drama queen yourself? life is full of unexpected turns. you’ve got to learn to let the little things go. Thank God you were not in a car accident with those two girls.
Comment by gopmom on 27 March 2008:
Tim, You completely miss the point. I handled the situation properly. I pulled over, cleaned up the kid, made a space for her in the Jeep and proceeded on my way. Of course I didn’t get in an accident. (Although if anyone knows what I can hit that will total the car without killing me, that would be appreciated. The smell keeps getting worse.)
The point is the mother knows this is a problem for the kid. she let me drive her over the river and through the woods without any warning and then she dismissed the situation entirely. It may be ok for her to drive around in a stinky car but why should I have to? She should have offered to clean the car or have it done. (Did I mention they are both highly paid professionals, with three cars and two houses?) This is just another example of how bad manners has become the norm. BTW, everyone I’ve talked to about this agrees that the mom should get the car cleaned but I’m not holding my breath - well, in my Jeep, I am. Again, no surprise she’s an Obama fan.
Comment by marcus on 27 March 2008:
Im pretty sure people from both ends of the political spectrum can be stupid, thats a pretty bad stereotpe…………
Comment by gopmom on 28 March 2008:
I never said anything about stupid, Marcus. I said no manners.
One can learn good manners, stupid is forever. But, does not learning good manners make one stupid? Hmm…
Comment by AMP on 31 March 2008:
Politics and personal responsibility have no bearing on each other. You’re puting 2+2 together to equal 5 if you’re trying to blame this one on Obama, his party, or their methodology.
But you touch on a HUGE problem in this country: The lack of personal responsibility. No one has the #@!!$ to stand up and admit the mistakes they’ve made, or try to make it right. If that were my kid, my wife or I would have offered to clean it up, or at the very least, have had your car cleaned professionally (or both). People want to sue because they were burned by their coffee, or that they broke their arm walking onto their neighbor’s porch while drunk in an ice storm. I was always raised that if you damage someone’s parked car, you leave a note on their windshield as it was the right thing to do. Nowadays, you’ll never see that happen, and if it does, the person who caused the damage is almost given a medal. It seems most Americans want a lawyer, or someone else to step in and cover their butts. That’s what you were the victim of, not the supporter of a guy you target.
Comment by gopmom on 1 April 2008:
Why is it such a leap to connect a person’s behavior with their political leanings? I did it in this case because the connection was so clear. She is one of those high-minded liberals who walks around considering herself above it all. Let the little people deal with problems - or the government. She simply can’t be bothered. She is so caught up in her life and her dramas that she has no time or inclination to bother with the rest of us. Therefore she picks a candidate that promises to make it all better. All she need do is check the box - typical liberal
Oh, and previously unreported - she is leaving the ‘public’ health care facility where she works to enter private practice. Could it be she secretly dreads becoming a Federal employee?
I cannot separate people’s political beliefs with how they live their lives because they are so closely related, more so when it comes to the liberals I know. Isn’t this the big debate going on in the Dem party right now? How you conduct yourself privately is an indication of how you will conduct yourself publicly.
Comment by AMP on 1 April 2008:
We’ve seen conservatives linked to and indicted of all sorts of crimes lately… does supporting their party indicate that the supporters are criminals as well? No. It’s all about the individual here in this country.
I find that staunch liberals and staunch conservatives are full of hypocrisy, and it sounds like your ‘friend’ is staunchly on the liberal hypocritical spectrum. Problem is with both sides, is it seems they want their cake and to eat it too.
I firmly agree in what you say: “How you conduct yourself privately is an indication of how you will conduct yourself publicly.” Some politicians ask you to “Judge me on my words, not my past actions”. Problem is, we are so used to them blatantly lying, that their words mean little. As an intelligent American, I prefer to work smarter, not harder if I can — especially when shovelling the brown stuff our politicians (both major parties especially) drop down.
Comment by rebeka on 18 June 2008:
we live out in the country, one night our dog chased a SKUNK and the spray was horrible, after cleaning and paying a service, i still had the odor in the carpet…after extensive research..here is what worked..sat fresh ground coffee in trays throughout the house, opened all windows, left coffee in trays for several days…ok, i know vomit is just as bad as skunk…put dry fresh ground coffee in trays in your jeep, it will absorb the smell…leave it for at least a couple of days…it really works…good luck…and i think most of these folks missed your point…you were simply asking for advice on how to get the puke smell to leave…