This weekend’s tagsaling event did not disappoint. I did get a new Babci story to share with you all. As I’ve mentioned in the past, Babci has been known to have a bit of a vindictive side. For those who have done unusually cruel things to her or her family, she has no issue hexing them. But what does one do when you’re married to one of the rottenest of rotten people out there? Before Babci was brainwashed into submission, actually, the submission was partly because she wanted a peaceful house and was sick of fighting, but before those days, she had a bit of zest in the way she handled the mean things my dad did.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this in the past, but for many years, my mom used to work the graveyard shift at the tool making factory. That’s the 12-8am shift. It’s tough stuff for anyone who’s done it and eventually she was moved to second shift which was a big quality of life improvement for her. Back when she was still working 3rd shift and always exhausted, she went through a particularly rough patch with my dad. You see, she was the woman and was expected to wait on him because that was her job (well in addition to her night job of course). That meant pretty much doing all of the chores, picking up after him and then going to work the entire night. He never lifted a finger. To add insult to injury, he got in the habit of waking my mom up during her sleeping hours and demanding that she get up and cook him a hot dinner. She pleaded that he let her sleep, but he refused to understand or show any empathy towards her tiredness. (I kid you not, this is not an exaggeration. He was really like this.) Well, it got pretty darn hard to get to sleep after being woken before her shift and there were days where she got very little sleep. In a factory environment that’s no laughing matter and she has had 3 workplace accidents and a missing finger to show for it. (this was before the days of OSHA and she was doing repetitive piecework). It sucked bad and something had to be done.
Babci made her plan of attack. My dad was working first shift at the time. Babci started stockpiling all the dimes she could get her hands on. Then, when she got to work, she’d immediately crank call him at midnight..and keep calling until he picked up the phone…and then hang up. She proceeded to to this at every break and every night for a week. She would get home and my dad would be fuming and exhausted because of the crank caller. After a week, HE fell asleep at work and got in trouble. Once his job was at risk, my mom admitted that she was the one who was calling. She wanted to show him what it’s like to be woken before a long shift at work. I’m not sure how big the fight was after her confession, but she was pretty proudly telling me that after that, he never woke her again before her shift.
I guess the lesson is when you’re dealing with someone who’s that selfish, they have to physically be able to walk in your shoes before they can have any empathy for your situation. Are there still people out there like this? I have such a great life now that I can hardly imagine there are still such horrible individuals out there. I’m thankful every day for all that I have because I know what the other side looks like and it ain’t pretty. I guess lesson 2 is be careful who you pick as a spouse because there are some bad apples out there. That’s my Babci story of the day. Enjoy.
PS. My kids were pretty enamored with the payphones in Ireland and it was then I realized they had never seen one in their lives before. Isn’t that just so weird?
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