shocking news - a forrest gump contradiction??

I have seen Forrest Gump many times. My friend cady and i quote it often. Perhaps one day, i'll do a post on "favorite movie blips" and share a few of the favs with you.

One reference, though, always leads me to pause and think "wait a minute..." Maybe someone can clear up confusion if it's on my end. If i raise a good point, then this blog will have served a purpose of cracking the code on one of hollywood's most beloved films. (brilliant!)

Forrest lets jenny know that he is headed to war. "They're sending me...to viet-naaam."
Jenny, worried, responds with: "Promise me somethin'. Whatever happens, dont try to be brave. Just run. Just run away."

Cut to the war scene. Forrest is brave! Forrest doesn't just run away! In fact, he runs back into battle many times to save his fellow soldiers, including bubba, which leads to one of the sweetest moments in the film. "If i had known that this would be the last time i spoke to him, i probably woulda thought of somethin' better to say... hey bubba." (awww, best-good friends are great!)

The next time forrest runs into jenny, he is in washington dc receiving the metal of honor. Upon their departure, forrest gives the metal to jenny.

"Jenny, I want you...to have this."
"I cant take your metal, forrest"
"But i got it just by doing what you told me to do."
(now this is the point when i pause and say "wait a minute..." Is it just me or did he actually do the exact opposite of what she told him?)

I'm left baffled everytime.

a definite "elaine" experience

At least once a week, my boss refers to me as the seinfeld character elaine. I think i must have some elaine tendencies. I cant exactly articulate what those are (other than my, if i must say so, exceptionally awkward, and therefore completely dead-on, version of the "elaine dance"). I recently had an experience, though, that i would characterize as "totally elaine".

Coming home from the city to my quiet apartment, i decided to stop by a restaurant to get some take-out. I chose a quaint french place nearby, decided on a salad (a big salad??) and placed my order. The hostess keyed in the order, gave me the total, and i handed her my credit card. "Oh, we actually arent taking credit cards right now." (sigh) I had cash at home, but nothing with me. Rather than heading to an ATM and throwing my money away on those dang ATM fees, i decided to change the order to delivery.

My apartment is about a 7 minute walk from this restaurant. I did my usual power walking and presumed that i would be quite a few minutes ahead of the delivery guy. So i called a friend, chatted outside and then headed into my building's lobby. I quickly noticed a delivery guy speaking to the doorman (never thought i would say i had a doorman!!), but i thought to myself "there is no way that my delivery guy would be here now!" After another couple of minutes, i figured i should check. It was indeed him! He had just left the building, and I caught him just before he was about to jump on his bike and ride away with my dinner. I apologized, which he got the gist of but didnt totally understand because of, what i would soon discover, our language barrier. He spoke NO english.

My cash was in my apt, so i gestured for him to follow me. Once in the apartment, i grabbed my money and handed him the $20. He indicated that he didnt have any change. A delivery guy with no change?!? How can that be? We tried talking to convey our points of view, but since he spoke no english, this conversation was hopeless. I stood there hoping he might give in and say (well, or gesture), "just take the food. It's my mistake that i dont have change, so go ahead and enjoy. You shouldnt be punished for my unpreparedness." No. Didn't happen. So we headed back down to see if the doorman had any change. No luck. But fortunately the guy speaking to the doorman did! He handed me 4 five's, 3 of which i gave to the delivery guy.

My salad cost around $11.50. So in my attempt to avoid the scam of an ATM fee, i spent about $3 more than i would have spent had i given in and paid the fee! (double sigh!) But that's not the end...

As i said "au revoir" to my (actually spanish) delivery guy, i received a call from the french restaurant. "We have a delivery guy there trying to get your food to you. He's been waiting for a long time. What's going on??" I finally got a word in and explained that the food/money exchange had just taken place. The woman sounded very annoyed about the whole situation. I have a strong feeling that my face and apt number will not be leaving their memories anytime soon, which means that my days of enjoying delicious french cuisine are probably over. It was a good run. I did enjoy the "big salad," with the exception of the anchovies.

But like elaine, i may try to beat the system by creating a new apartment number using the trash room across the hall.

thank you dream!

It has been brought to my attention that i have been majorly slacking on my blog the past few weeks.  And with the lingering of my last post, i wanted to make it clear that i am alive and doing quite well, having survived the tick-tock of the clock as it moved me into this "dreaded year"... and to be honest, so far so good!  It's not so bad afterall.  I am embracing this age, taking ahold of it and trying to own it as much as mrs. bedazzled "owned" her tacky sweater (but rest assured, i have no desire to actually own one of those sweaters).  In fact, to my surprise, i recently had a moment of complete thankfulness about being this age.

It was brought on by a dream.  A dream that was brought on by a conversation i had with my coworker and boss which involved me swimming across the hudson from ny to jersey, which i have never done.  Yes, this conversation sounds rather odd and it lasted a good 3-5 minutes! (note references in prior posts to my "crazy" office.)  So that night, i dreamt that i was about to embark on a journey similar to this "hudson-cross," except i am not completely sure that it was in fact the hudson i was crossing.  The water in my dream did have quite a murky look to it, and made me question what i was jumping into and why the heck i was jumping into it.  I'll say this - it certainly wasn't the mediterranean!  So for posting purposes, we'll call it the hudson.  I had a backpack which must have been filled with the necessary "river swim" equipment, and i was saying good-bye to my good friends megan and joel, who were bidding me adieu from the dock.  (M&J, please never allow me to swim in any kind of hudson-like river in real life, let alone travel to jersey! -just a little joke, jersey folks.)  As i was about to make the jump into the water and begin my swim, M&J wished me a happy birthday.  This birthday they were referring to was the one i will have a year from now.  I was turning yet another year older!  With backpack in hand, i jumped... and sunk, rather far down that i found myself panicked that i wouldn't make it to the surface in time to take my next much-needed breath of air.  Feeling more nervous, i picked up the pace to swim to the surface.  This was no easy task since i was being weighed down by my backpack... but i made it to the surface in time! And then i heard scott & todd in the morning blasting from my radio and realized that it had all been a dream.  And for that moment, after having felt like i was even a year older than i am, i was incredibly thankful, and proud, to be my actual, so-called "dreaded" age.