HEY!!!!

I have always enjoyed surprising people. 

Case in point

When I was younger, I went through a phase in which I would shut myself in the pantry when I heard my dad pull into the driveway when coming home from work. Upon his entry to the kitchen I would jump out and yell “AAAAA!!!!!” I did this nearly every day for weeks. He never seemed to catch on.

I really miss running into and surprising my family and friends in public now that I live in Knoxville. I think I have only run into friends a handful of times since we’ve been here. It was so fun when it did happened. One reason why I’m so obsessed with hometown heroes Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is because they sing about places and even people I know (I think) from home. In of their songs (We Can Win Missouri) they sing, “Ran into your dad”. That immediately makes me think of the times I would pull into the Dillons on St. Louis and National and see my dad’s car. Then I would sneak through the store to see if I could jump out and surprise him. That place seemed to be where I would see other relatives and friends who lived near by. Jason would ask me about my current music tastes or talk about power lifting; Tommy would stop to chat, too.  Rosie would always be looking stylish.

Once I scared my then baby cousin, Sarah, when I saw her and my aunt at the Battlefield Mall. I snuck up behind them and said, probably too suddenly, “Hi!!!!!!” I think I also (gently) grabbed Sarah’s arm. That was when I learned you shouldn’t do that to small children. I doubt I would ever see anyone I remotely knew at the West Town Mall in Knoxville. And if I did, it would not be someone I knew well enough to surprise.