Don't Mess with a "Donkey on Edge"

I've been a little stressed since yesterday, and spent the whole day in my PJ's. After sitting around watching TV all day, I took two of the kids to buy their school books this afternoon. More than 700 Shek later... And I didn't even get all of them, and I haven't even started with Oldest yet. But, hey, at least there's no tuition.

They were so well-behaved in comparison to the other kids waiting for their parents in the check-out line. I saw two kids hitting and kicking each other. Their mother repeatedly told them to stop, which they did each time for 30 seconds. Once, she actually told her son to sit down next to her, and he said, "No". And then she appealed to the older sister, to which she got a one-shoulder shrug which (loosely) means, "Screw you, I don't care what you say, and I don't have to listen."

I hugged each of my children when we left and told them I love how they behave. Especially in public. No kid is perfect, and I wouldn't want my kids to be, but I'd rather they saved their fighting and attitudes for the living room, which miraculously, they manage to do. (My parents and siblings will remember a similar reaction when we left someone's house one Friday night when we were kids. Their kids were bouncing off the walls the whole time, and we were sitting politely. Right when we left, both my parents grabbed my little brother - not the best-behaved in our house but an angel compared to those kids - and hugged him.)

As we were driving away, I decided to take them to the new local mall that opened up here to walk around a bit. They always love to go into toy stores, and always ask for a toy, but are just as happy to play in there anyway, even if I don't buy them anything. And they both have a thing for malls. (Where'd they get that from?)

We drove down to the underground parking lot and were stopped by two very young, good looking Ethiopian-Israeli boys. (My mother says Ethiopians are the most beautiful Jews on the planet. I know they are by Western standards, but how does that translate in Africa?) One checked my trunk and the other handed me a flyer that I assumed was for sales in the mall. Without so much as a glance at the flyer, I turned my attention to the boy who had handed it to me. He said, "Don't forget, it's 50 Shek for the first 3 hours, and then 10 Skekels each additional hour." Breaking out my new-found Israeli attitude, I said, "No it's not. It's free for two hours of parking."

He said, "No, they changed the fee schedule. It's 50 Shekels."

I said, "Then I'm backing out. I haven't taken the ticket yet."

He said, "I can't let you do that."

I got my angry look to which he replied with a huge smile, "STAAAAAAAM!" I had to laugh. It's nice to see people enjoy their work.

As I drove into the lot, I looked down at the flyer... "Two hours free parking."