It is easy as pie to say “no” to mean people. I have a really hard time saying “no” to good people who are just trying to be nice. This past weekend I drove 300 miles to my hometown for a friend’s wedding. It would have been a great weekend except for my inability to say “That does not work for me.” to old people. My grandma visited me last spring and we went to see an acquaintance of hers who she gave my phone number to. Now he calls me every two weeks or so wondering if I am going home.
The reason is because he gives out fruit hand over fist and always wants me to bring Grandma and the nuns she works for some. By some, he means as much as my poor little Ranger can carry. I have been doing this all summer and drove home a load of plums this weekend. That would not have been too bad if anyone on God’s green earth wanted some plums. I could not pay people to take them. A rotten apple spoils the barrel and a truckload of unwanted plums spoils a weekend. I drove down Friday and back Sunday so I really wanted to just enjoy the wedding and because I can not say “no” I had to worry about fruit. He is just trying to be nice and prevent the fruit from going to waste, but when all is said and done I am afraid the brown cows my family raises will benefit the most.
I have driven home cherries and nectarines and expect that I will be unable to say "no" to apples in the future. In many cases I was not even planning to drive home and it was very inconvenient. Yet, I am unable to say “no.” Saying “no” to drugs or “no” to the unreasonable ideas of the kids I work with is easy for me. Saying no to an eighty year-old man who just wants to send a convent full of little-old nuns fruit, that is a sticky wicket.
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