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07/06/2002 Entry: "Vast creepiness"
Picture this:
Eric, Sam, my brother Cory, and I are all sitting in Red Lobster, recuperating after a long day at the zoo. Eric points out the lady at the next table, chuckling amusedly at the fact that she seems so annoyingly prissy: teased "Miss America"-styled blonde bouffant, matching pearl jewelry set, perfect pink-hued makeup, lacy pink sweater top. Little did he know that we were all witnessing the beginning of one of the creepiest events I've had in recent memory.
Before long, Cory bent over the table and whispered, "There's another one!" Sure enough, at a nearby table was another blonde belle, complete with the pearl jewelry and the perfect coif. Was it my imagination, or did they even have the same facial features? And there was another one, across the restaurant!
One walked past us, and Cory said in a voice that was not quite hushed enough, "I wonder how much of that hair is actually hers?" A waitress near our table overheard him and nearly fell over with a sudden fit of giggles. She approached us and informed us that they were all over the entire restaurant.
"They're all related, too. They came with some group of traveling workers, going door to door, resealing driveways and such. They all talk really fast, too." We paused for a moment, listening; sure enough, one of the women near us said something in a nearly incomprehensible blur of consonants and vowels.
We managed to count about twelve women all over the room, jangling their bracelets and batting their eyes at the men seated across from them, who looked like a perfectly normal assortment of guys. It was positively eerie to see so many women who looked so alike, who would have been apparently unconnected to each other had we not spoken to the waitress. Even with that knowledge, it was still almost frightening, yet hysterical to see. "They look like they're here for a blow-dryer convention," Cory wheezed.
On the way out, I couldn't help but stop and ask where they were from (to the horror of my husband and brother, who still hadn't recovered from their fit of giggles). "Georgia," the woman next to us said, with a nearly rude air that said she was tired of being asked. I nodded, smiled, and left.
Replies: 6 sandcastles
Dreama- I remember that show! I watched it too!!!!!!!! I hadn't remembered it, but now that you bring it up.. it does sound completely like that show and the people they portrayed.
Maybe it felt/looked creepy for a reason Carrie!!! one of those "not right" things.
Posted by Hannah @ 07/08/2002 06:15 PM EST
I remember that story on the news show! (Dateline maybe?) Creepy is the word I would use.
Posted by Heather Brooke @ 07/07/2002 07:27 PM EST
So Dreama can get some sleep... ;-)
They're "Irish Travellers," decendants of the so-called "tinkers" in Ireland. They call themselves "Pavee."
Some websites...
http://www.celticeilidh.com/celts/travellers.htm
Posted by Tracy @ 07/07/2002 05:54 PM EST
You know, I'm reminded of a special on Dateline or one of those shows about a group of people whom I do believe were from Georgia, who are like a travelling bunch of charlatans. They're all related to one another via marriage and intermarriage, and they're con artists. They offer to do home improvements, get big payoffs in advance of the work and then skip town. They also practice child marriage (girls as young as 14 are wed to men within their community) and a few other freaky things. The big hair and jewelry thing kind of sticks in my memory, the women tend toward that kind of look. They also mentioned something in the report about a dialect or way of speaking -- for the life of me I can't remember what these people called themselves, but now I'm going to be thinking about it all night.
Posted by Dreama @ 07/07/2002 03:56 AM EST
Yup, I would have guessed Stepford!LOL Creepy is a good word for it though!
Posted by Sueellen @ 07/06/2002 10:32 PM EST
I wouldn't have been surprised had they said Stepford.
Posted by Andrea R @ 07/06/2002 07:50 PM EST
