More Good News!

Saddened by the quality of my Jason Heyward photo, my good friend Mark Reeves donated the following photo. This one was taken by Mark during Heyward's follow-through on the actual home run swing. Though taken only seconds apart, for some reason, mine looks like it was taken in the 1970s. Weird.

In other news, I bloodied a little kid's nose at Wal-Mart a little while ago. At least that's how her mother viewed it when her unsupervised four-year-old ran full-speed (while not looking where she was going) into my right hand that was unfortunately carrying a jar of On the Border Medium Salsa (which I've since learned isn't very good).

Of course, I immediately asked if the child was okay and apologized (though I maintain it was not my fault), but both mother and father did not see any reason to dignify me with a response of any sort. In fact, rather than respond to me, they scolded the child for being reckless and not watching where she was going. I even apologized a second time and was ignored again.

Only when I continued my shopping for a few seconds and a little blood dripped out of the child's nose was I significant enough to engage in conversation. Mother-of-the-Year told another shopper to get my attention and proceeded to tell me that I "made a mistake and busted her daughter's nose."

Needless to say, I resisted the urge to point out the flaws in her logic and apologized a third time. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder what this fine citizen expected me to say or do that I had not already done. Why was it the child's fault until they saw blood? Why wasn't I worth acknowledging (or blaming) until they saw blood? Why am I still writing about this?

The only thing I can figure is that for at least a moment, this lady saw dollar signs pouring out of her daughter's nose. Fortunately, she dropped it after my third apology and the dollar signs quit flowing pretty quickly. Maybe I'm a bad person and am assuming the worst in others, but I'm afraid that paranoia is the undoubted product of our over-litigious society. Thank you, trial lawyers.

By the way, if you have read this far, you are a true friend.