September 7th

I got off work and went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. As I was leaving work, I got onto Highway 99 and I saw this guy coming towards me. I couldn't believe my eyes! He was wearing a helmet, wrist guards, knee pads, & football shoulder/chest pads while rollerblading over the bridge where there's a ton of construction. To make it a hundred times better, he had a dog on a leash in his right hand and a vase with a huge bouquet of bright yellow flowers tucked under his left arm. I really wish I would've asked him if I could've taken his picture, because it's not everyday you see something like that & personally I found it hilarious! I even debated on turning around.

I got to the grocery store and though things couldn't get much stranger... but I was wrong. A little normalcy first though. I ran into two wonderful ladies that I hadn't seen since just after Hannah & Dan got married. Dan's sister and niece were strolling through and we stopped and chatted for a little while. I snapped a picture of Ms. Smiley aka Lillian. She's so adorable. It was great to see them for a brief moment!

After talking to Naomi and Lillian I headed over to the meat area to pick up some steak. I approached a little girl who was frolicking around while her dad was picking out some produce. I'd guess the little girl was about 4, maybe 5 years old. She dropped the little cage thing she was carrying and a couple things fell out. She quickly picked up her little rubber ducky and I picked up a bright yellow flower. She quickly told me that it was 'ducky's food'. I handed her the flower and she thanked me. She then showed me 'ducky's house' and 'ducky' himself. Her dad laughed and said, 'I see you found a new friend'. I laughed and the little girl immediately tells me 'that's not my dad'. Well, it was very clear the guy was this girls father so I just kind of laughed. The dad said, 'she watched this stranger video on youtube and has been mimicking it ever since'. In chimes the little girl, 'I don't know that person. Mommy, that man is a stranger!'. Now I'm a little freaked out... did this little girl really just call me mommy?! Oh boy. Her dad started to walk away and told her to come along. She insisted that she wasn't going with him, that she was coming with me, her mommy. I told her that I'm not that much fun and that she should probably go with her dad. She still insisted on going with me, her mommy. Her dad walked back up and told her she's not even following what the video had done and that he's going to pick her up if she doesn't come with him. She went with him pretty effortlessly this time around.

Later when I got home, I was thinking, what if that were some hidden camera thing... like on What Would You Do. I got to thinking about what if a little girl had come up and said that they didn't know someone they were supposedly with. What if it was the truth? What would I do? I like to challenge myself with questions like this. I feel it betters my readiness to react in such situations. I like to think that I would stand up and do the right thing but who really knows what you would really do, who you would really stand up against to protect a complete stranger?