Talking to Yourself

Some stories are too funny not to tell.

They say you should be careful talking to yourself out loud: especially when you start answering back.

Last week I was gassing up my truck on pump 4 at DeRidder’s WalMart.  Just minding my own business,  I glanced up at the Appalachian Trail* sticker on my truck’s back glass.  Thinking back to my recent hiking trip on America’s most famous trail, I blurted aloud,  “It kicked my butt.”

I looked up to see a man grinning at me from nearby pump 5.  I’m sure he wondered who I was talking to.  I know I looked dumb.  However, I was stating a fact.  As much as I enjoyed the trip (“I loved every miserable step”) a long climb up Roan Mountain (Tenn-NC border) just about did me in.  Hikers use that term to describe any hard climb or trip: as in “it kicked my butt.”

Only when you’ve lumbered (or nearly crawled) up a mountain wearing a thirty-five pound pack can you fully understand the statement.  (By the way, willingly climbing mountains with a pack is not a sign of the smartest mind.)

Talking to yourself. I see it all of the time with those new phones with the earbud.  I’ve answered these folks several times thinking they were talking to me.

I’ve made a vow to never wear a phone in my ear.  It’s a vow I hope to keep.  Of course, when you live in a place with no cell phone coverage (Dry Creek, Louisiana the “Bermuda Triangle” of cell phones)  you’re not likely to wear a cell phone ear piece.

If you see me with one in my ear, feel free to just… kick my butt.

* A debate I’d like your input on:

I’ve always said “Appalachian”  as “appa.lay.shun”

My friends in North Carolina quickly corrected me with “appa.latch.chun.”   I joked with them that most of the world outside Carolina says it the way I do.

How do you pronounce it where you live?  I’m curious.