My first thought was that she was asking what religion you were and was about to start evangelizing.
I had my own parking lot encounter last night at about 10pm at the supermarket. A very obviously drunk kid, maybe 22, came up and said, “Excuse me ma’am…do you know the name of the person that started the underground railroad?”
Which I know I know but could not think of it at the time so I had to tell him I knew what he was talking about but I couldn’t think of the name. And he said, “Aw…that’s what everybody keeps saying!” and then went on to a man nearby and asked him the same thing.
Still can’t think of the name, and I didn’t think anything of it but now I wonder if there’s a joke there somewhere that I’m missing.
They were probably thinking about Harriet Tubman ,but she didsn’t start the underground railroad, she was just very instumental in moving people through it. I’m no expert, but it is my understanding that the Underground Railroad evolved from dozens of individuals all working independently who worked together on an informal basis.
Scylla is an international spy, a weapon forged in the heat of battle, ready to be wielded by the mysterious cabal which Scylla himself can’t even name. He walks in shadow only, draws the eyes of no-one, until it is too late; only those who perish by his hand get to see him. Except his wife and his daughter; they skate on that one. He strikes terror into the hearts of men, lust into the hearts of women, and can paralyze a groundhog at fifty meters just by thinking really mean thoughts about them. He’s the ultimate fighting machine, born and raised to rain death upon the enemy, and currently employed in the finance sector.
At the Wal-Mart I frequent, the loud tone + authoratative male “…you have activated the Walmart inventory control system” goes off about every minute or so. Everytime I’ve been there, over the past year. No one seems to notice, or care.
My sister is an assistant manger for Walmart…she is currently in Vancouver, WA but she has worked in half the Walmarts here in Utah.
So whenever I go in someone working there usually asks me “Do you have a sister?”
I got you topped on surrealism, Scylla, on my encounter with God. Yes, God. THE God. Supreme Being. And apparently, God agrees with Douglas Adams.
See, I was sitting in the mall, resting my legs while waiting for a movie’s start time to arrive. As I’m sitting there, watching people walk by, an older couple - probably in their mid-50’s to early 60’s in appearance - approach. Both appear to be fit (though not athletic), and both are wearing comfortable, light-colored clothes. The woman has a straw hat on. Both have calm, pleasant, joyful faces.
They stop right in front of me. The man leans over and says, “Excuse me.” When I look up, he grins, and says, “The answer… is 42.”
Without missing a beat, I grin, and reply, “Ah… but what’s the question?” I’ve seen this scenario so many times that response has become automatic.
Again, without missing a beat, the man winks, grins a bit more, and says, “Ah… now that’s what we all have to find out, isn’t it?” Then he straightens up, and the two walk away.
I spoke with God. At the mall. While waiting to see The Fellowship of the Ring. Damn, I’m cool.
Your familiar obviously. You are tampering with powers you cannot control. Turn back now. A protective spell requires an extra donut. In that respect you are lucky.
I was in an interview and they filled a room with about 20 people. I got to stand up in front and answer questions for over an hour being zinged at me left and right.
Toward the end, a man in the back said, “oh, just tell us the answer to everything!”. Without missing a beat, I just said “42”. Everyone else thought it was just a smart-aleky answer to a smart aleky question but I could see by his eyes that he got it.
I’m sure it helped, but I didn’t get the job. I was told informally that I did extremely well but that I was a white male, so out. But that is another story.