Top Comments - Officer Dobson

Officer Dobson was a highway patrolman we knew because he attended at least two accidents in which my sister had been hit by motorists while riding her bicycle. He was a friendly, large gentleman, very professional.

Once, while driving with my sister, Officer Dobson was conducting a driver’s license check on a back road several miles from our house.

Since I was the driver, Officer Dobson asked me for my license and the vehicle registration.  I provided them without hesitation.

He asked a question or two about details on the license, then asked, "Would you close your eyes?"

It seemed a strange request, but I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me or anything. As I was allways one to support our local officers, I complied, smiling most cooperatively.

I heard him ask, hesitantly, "Blue?"
I nodded, reassuringly, as my eyes are indeed blue. He got it right!

Meanwhile, my sister, sitting next to me,  was about to explode with laughter!

You see,  Officer Dobson had actually asked, "What color are your eyes?"

He asked what color my eyes were -  and I had immediately closed them! In the spirit of peaceful cooperation, I almost certainly performed the most compliant act of non-compliance Officer Dobson ever encountered. ;)

To this day, thought of that incident transports her into giggles.

It isn’t the only time I had little goofups.

Several occurred when I was a student in Germany. At the time I was very into the language. I lived in a dormitory, and my focus on the language was so intense that, if students were walking down the hall, talking, even if I was trying to go to sleep I would ‘follow’ their conversation, just to hear the rhythm of the language, possibly catch new words.

I devoured street signs and advertisements, anything with German on it. I found what I believed to be the quintessential German sentence on a street sign (in that it incorporated so many of the unique sounds of German in a short sentence). The sentence was:

Wer hier parkt wird angezeigt und kostenpflichtig abgeschleppt.

(Roughly: Whoever parks here will be ticketed and [the car] towed at owner’s expense.)

I developed the habit of anticipating conversations I might have in given situations, rehearsing them in my mind so that I would have the words ready if needed. The trickiest situations were when something less predictable happened, when it was not so easy to anticipate what the topic of conversation might be, when there was no time to rehearse.

In the first instance, I was walking along a road near the university, when a car pulled up alongside.
I could see another student was inside. Quickly I thought,"He’s gonna offer me a ride!" So, in response to something he fired off very rapidly, I replied, "Nein, danke."  (No, thanks.) THEN I realized that he had asked directions to somewhere. He drove off shaking his head at the stupid American. ;)

You would think I would have learned from that experience and at least began to take my time listening to the ‘issue’ before responding, but not our hero, oh no!

Since my  time there was more than two decades before cellphones, when we wanted to call our parents, we had to use a telephone booth outside the main post office in town.

On this occasion I was not calling, myself, but a friend of mine was. I waited a few feet away, alongside a small driveway by the canal next to the post office. I saw someone approaching, and knew that the person was unquestionably coming up to ask me a question. Oh man, what could it be THIS time?!

So, fresh off of my experience along the roadway, I figured surely the person was going to ask me directions somewhere.It is important to note that directions were an art unto themselves in terms of sophisticated German. I had heard people give directions, and was in rapt awe, every time, at their fluency and at the very complexity of the information they were trying to convey. At the time I would not have been able to give directions to the young man in the vehicle, even if I had known where he wished to go.

Sure enough, the next gentleman walked up to me. Knowing I could not describe how to get anywhere, I was prepared, this time!

So, he asked his question.

 And I blurted out, "Keine Ahnung".   ("No idea") [to the question of where the place he sought might be]

Only, no sooner did I answer than I realized that the question he ACTUALLY asked me was, "Is that your car parked in the driveway?"

Then, I started saying, "No, no, that isn’t my car,"  but he was already gone, shaking his head at the stupid American standing in the road. ;)

Why have I told you these stories? Because of the energy lately on the Daily Kos. We are human beings, every one of us. We make mistakes, embarrassing ones, sometimes. I believe very strongly in the importance of being able to tell little stories on ourselves. It’s important to not take ourselves so seriously, and to be able to laugh at ourselves. It backs us off from the intensity of the other things going on, and it can remind us of the harmless little things we all have in common. No one is immune, no matter how much she or he may wish it. ;)

Do you have a funny story you can tell on yourself? :) (We'll laugh WITH you, not at you, I promise!)

(Special thank you to KathyinSC for her very short-notice editing assistance, indispensable! Thank you Kathy!)

On to comments!

From madgranny:

leveymg explains the real reason the Senate passed the FISA bill, in Keith Olbermann's diary "FISA Special Comment"
 
Guess Keith figured we needed cheering up

JG in MD commented about an inspirational poem recited by Senator Byrd in the Senate.  That sent me in search of the poem to reply to that comment.  JG has confirmed that those are indeed the words Byrd recited.  They're beautiful.

~~~~
From bronte17:

This tip jar is from a candidate satire diary...  the diary was funny and very innovative. Nice pictures too.

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Delegation From ME, CT, DE, MD, DC, VA, SC, GA, LA, AL, MN, IL, MO, IA, KS: "Where shall we go?  What shall we do?"

President Hillary Clinton: "Frankly, my dears, I don't give a damn."

Decades Later by JekyllnHyde

~~~~
From noweasels:

weasel has the perfect response to the Texas GOP's (read chickenhawk John Cornyn's) request for Senate candidate (um, and Lt. Col.) Rick Noriega's military records, in Brandon Friedman's excellent diary on this latest attempt at swiftboating.

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From carolita

I learned about something new and interesting -- LibraryThing -- from this comment by*pattyp* in sarahnity's excellent diary Frugal Fridays: Reading is FUNdamental.

These comments were from va dare, before I relieved her from duty. :)

In cskendrick's funny "If You Don't Rec This Diary The Terrorists Win," start with Think of the CHICKENS by imported beer and follow through the replies in that thread.

Thought=provoking comment here: Torture = Frustration, not Justice by RepubAnon

I got paid too (so did Obama). by Jaime Frontero

Interesting diary AND comments Just for Today by Crashing Vor - admitting to the problem is the first step, the white chip, the first stage of recovery.

Rex Freedom starts a wickedly funny art thread lampooning Mean Jean Schmidt.

Snarky fun in his whole dairy but Bob Johnson outdoes himself with Touch my pole.

My picks. :)

Jaxpagan comments in cskendrick's rec list diary. ;)

HoundDog makes a nice comment about the community-Building aspects of dKos resources like Diary Rescue and TC! Thank you!

SmileySam suggests a new possible residence for Dubya once the White House is finally evacuated next year.  There'd be room for Cheney, too! Perfect!

And tonight's Top Mojo, courtesy of ... well, courteously!

Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 30 of each plus ties):

1 The Terry MacAuliffes by bugscuffle - 168
2 Mark Penn Tied To Controversial Nuclear Firm by Junglered1 - 141
3 What I least like about this... by Buzzer - 97
4 Stay warm by kid oakland - 95
5 His stock reply should be, by panicbean - 94
6 So do the Clintons by simca - 92
7 Mojo Lounge is Open by TexDem - 92
8 Thank you for your strident support of Obama. by Delaware Dem - 90
9 Mmmmmm by MKinTN - 87
10 Great account(s). I, too, worked for Webb by TerribleTom - 86
11 What's to critcize? by panicbean - 86
12 I'll have mine double-toasted by vigilant meerkat - 85
13 Stephen Wright once said, by ClickerMel - 81
14 Great Post by dansac - 80
15 Well, "everything" includes by vigilant meerkat - 79
16 Oh, and make that an "Everything" bagel by vigilant meerkat - 79
17 You're makin my brain hurt by Team Slacker - 77
18 Or as soon as he hands over by Brandon Friedman - 77
19 Agreed... by Loudoun County Dem - 75
20 Where WOULD'T you put it? by westsidegirlygirl - 75
21 Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory by CTReformedRep - 75
22 I was not aware of that... by Loudoun County Dem - 75
23 "I bought some used paint..." by goffnews - 74
24 Oh, it's Friday -- by ClickerMel - 73
25 In addition to Pres McCain by simca - 73
26 Bush to America: BOO! by Jimdotz - 73
27 Thanks for the help.  More to do. by Nuisance Industry - 72
28 Netroots Nation '08 by donnamarie - 72
29 I have a large walk up attic by funluvn1 - 72
30 I knowz you gots Mojo in here by edwardssl - 71

Top Mojo - everything included:

1 Tip Jar by John Kerry - 585
2 tips for a progressive movement by wmtriallawyer - 497
3 tips for my first diary? by tbounnak - 426
4 comments/questions by davefromqueens - 405
5 Just a place to hang out by mcjoan - 368
6 Frrreeeeeeeeeeedommmmmm Jar by cskendrick - 310
7 I'm tired of the old politics... by Loudoun County Dem - 300
8 Yet again, I start out writing by RenaRF - 284
9 Please Donate by oaksmarts - 283
10 Tips in Texas by kubla000 - 280
11 Tip jar by Brandon Friedman - 266
12 Point 3 by psycho liberal - 223
13 The Terry MacAuliffes by bugscuffle - 168
14 Keep up the good work. by word player - 157
15 Friday Tip Jar... by Bill in Portland Maine - 148
16 Mark Penn Tied To Controversial Nuclear Firm by Junglered1 - 141
17 What the hell are you waiting for? by icebergslim - 134
18 not that torture is ever ok by clammyc - 103
19 Tip Jar by along - 102
20 Mojo Mug by TexDem - 101
21 tip jar - belated by tsackton - 100
22 What I least like about this... by Buzzer - 97
23 Stay warm by kid oakland - 95
24 His stock reply should be, by panicbean - 94
25 So do the Clintons by simca - 92
26 Mojo Lounge is Open by TexDem - 92
27 Thank you for your strident support of Obama. by Delaware Dem - 90
28 Mmmmmm by MKinTN - 87
29 Great account(s). I, too, worked for Webb by TerribleTom - 86
30 What's to critcize? by panicbean - 86

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