I got a similar reaction every time I bought a carload of mulch and helped load it and when I turn down help loading the fifty-pound bag of dog food I buy every month. I keep getting comments about how strong I must be. My internal response is that it's really not all that awesome to be able to heave things around for a short time--"strong" is the people who load all this crap I buy onto and off of trucks, etc.
It makes me wonder if it is my appearance (short, fat, elderly) which makes people surprised about my ability to carry things. Or is it that Americans in general have gotten in the habit of having others do things for us? Perhaps it falls somewhere in between, but I feel a little weird being admired for something that really isn't all that special, although I will cherish the comment the Home Depot cashier made on my way out.
"I sure wouldn't want to mess with you!"
*snort*
6 comments:
Wise Cashier!
There is nothing more dangerous than a resourceful, intelligent woman!
Because of my stupid elbows, my day of having things loaded and unloaded for me is fast approaching.
Meanwhile my right arm does the bulk of the work.
I would take you on, but not in a spelling bee. =)
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~Z~
I never told you this story, lets just say the cashier was right in asking you why you didn't ask for help. I don't know how much I can tell you, but lets just say a lady that fit your description much better then you do tried something similar and ended up showing the rest of the planet that she should have asked for help.
So while you can be understood for reacting the way you did, and you are intelligent enough to know what you can and cannot do, please understand that they were right to ask what they did - especially in todays litigous (sp?) society.
I must look like beeg strong wohmahn because I never get offers to help load my car with the 160 lbs of cat litter I buy every month.
At 4'10" I am small, but strong. I ask for help reaching or carrying all the time, not so much because I need it, but because it makes people happy to help me. I live alone, so it's not like I'm a delicate flower; I have to do it all myself at home.
On not messing with me, when someone is yelling at me, I wait quietly, and when they pause, I say "Do you realize that from here I can see straight up your nose?" Shuts them up right quick....
More aggressively, I'll point out that their balls are at tooth level for me.
It's a numeric equation for me. 40 pounds is my limit. Mom was always asking me to toss 80 pound bags of manure about, since she'd never picked up anything more than five pounds. We settled on forty pounds, and I've kept using it.
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