Reality Meeting Fiction

People were having trouble trying to leave comments on this blog. I think I’ve fixed the problem, so give it a try.

 Also, a new Sandi Webster mystery is now available in both ebook and paperback format. “What Are the Odds?” is an entertaining new addition to the series.

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Now, down to business.

Many of us have little habits that can be annoying, and they usually show up when we’re angry, frustrated, disbelieving or at inappropriate moments. Sometimes they may show up when something strikes us funny. A person comes to mind who snorts when she laughs. In this case, it’s not annoying but makes everyone else laugh harder.

In the Sandi Webster series, Sandi has a bad habit of sighing. As a matter of fact, she’s pretty much brought it to an art form. In the Bogey Man series, Pamela rolls her eyes frequently. It’s her way of making a statement without speaking. She remembers her mother telling her not to do it because her eyes might get stuck that way. Anyone remember their mother telling them this scary little story? I do, and I never realized I was rolling my eyes until Mom called it to my attention.

And then it happened; a news report about a woman who both rolls her eyes and sighs, and the possible consequences.

In July of 2010, in Elmhurst, Illinois, a woman was ejected from a public meeting for excessively rolling her eyes and sighing. Local officials were looking at the possibility of creating a “disturbance and disorderly conduct” violation because of this individual’s annoying attitude and performance. The City Attorney was going to look into it, but I never heard the results.

Who says fiction is too unrealistic sometimes? Not me. I know many real life stories would be scoffed at if they were found in a piece of fiction, because (to use a cliché) life really is stranger than fiction.

Of course, there’s more to the story than what I’ve mentioned, but I’m not a reporter and this isn’t a newspaper.

If Sandi and Pamela were real people, they’d probably be outside the meeting place marching and carrying placards – and sighing and rolling their eyes.

In the meantime, their counterparts, Pete and Chris, might be standing on the sidelines  pretending they didn’t know them or saying things like, “I wonder who those screwy women are” or “I’ve never seen that woman before in my life.”

I hate to admit it, but I had to roll my own eyes when I heard this story.

Personally, food is one of my issues. I’m a picky eater, I snack a lot, and I have a chocolate ice cream cone and a spoon of peanut butter every single night. How could I forget, I’m a chocoholic. I’m tenacious, and sometimes that can be a bad habit. Sometimes I speak my mind when I should just sigh or roll my eyes.

Think about it for a moment. Do you have an annoying habit(s)? Do you think you could break yourself of that habit? Most importantly, do you want to stop doing whatever it is that you do? I don’t care what anyone says, I’m not giving up chocolate.

Until next week, enjoy people’s habits instead of letting them annoy you.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website.

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Give What Are the Odds? – A Sandi Webster Mystery a try. You just might like it.