Sam waited outside the fishing tackle shop until it opened, as he wanted to buy a book of tide timetables. I sat on a nearby seat in Union Street and looked after the bags of shopping. Presently a middle-aged lady came along and the conversation went something like this:
Lady: “I’m not being funny or anything, but do you mind if I sit down here as well?”
Me: “Sure, help yourself.”
She perched on the edge of the bench, as far away from me as she could manage. It wasn’t long before she piped up again.
Lady: “Do you live on the Island?”
Me: “No, but we come here many times throughout the year. We’re thinking of moving here when my husband retires.”
Lady: “Don’t. I live here, and it’s boring. Where is there to go? Once you’ve been around it there’s nothing else.”
I felt quite angry at this statement. Sam and I have had nothing but good memories from our years of staying on the Island. There is so much to see and do, and even after nearly 20 years of coming here we still haven’t seen everything. My philosophy is that life is what you make it. If you sit indoors moaning and whining that you’re bored, then you deserve to be.
This woman then went on to moan and complain about life in general whilst using me as a sounding board. In the end I grabbed the bags of shopping, then stood up and walked over to fishing tackle shop and waited for Sam to come out! She sat on the bench and waited patiently for her next victim.
Stevie Turner 
Hi Stevie, some people are just negative and complain about everything. I always try to look on the bright side of life. There are always good things in every situation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, you’re right, Robbie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am always surprised by people who think it is all right to complain to strangers. She only has herself to blame if she can’t find interesting things to do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We all know those people who aren’t happy unless they’re complaining about something. That gets draining to listen to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, you end up with compassion fatigue!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Compassion fatigue—great term! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol… yes, it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I’m not being funny or anything, but do you mind if I sit down here as well?” Nothing good comes from that line. Not unlike “Well, long story short…”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought it a bit strange, but perhaps she was worried in case I thought she had the Rona.
LikeLike
That line has been an intro to strangeness longer than Rona. I hate to intrude, etc. having done artist relations for years “Hey man, (sir, senor, etc) I’m not really coming out of nowhere/wasting your time/ crazy… and then comes the out of nowhere/wasting time/crazy bit. It’s used as a clarifier to get “you” to listen or not discount their message. There are people who are much better at it by not being generic and instead use a rhetorical device specific for the target. Oh, wait. That’s advertising!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I should have told her yes, I did mind if she sat there, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There it is. Like “Long story short.” My response is always to stop them and ask “Yeah? Really? Promise?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some people are disappointed in life no matter what. It’s not everyone who can marvel at the sun going down over the sea more than once no matter how different each time can be. It doesn’t sound as though the move from London gained her any friends.
Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nor will she ever gain any if she keeps moaning like that, lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, the poor woman! Well I can somehow understand it. If you have lived in one place from childhood, it can get boring in old age. Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
She told me she moved there from London about 5 years ago.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, so no natives. 😉 That is a bit questionable. Of course, no surroundings can compete with those in London that quickly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course.
LikeLike
That lady could live in the most exciting place in the world, and then complain it was too exciting. Stick her in Camden Town for a month, and she would be rushing back gratefully to the IOW I’m sure! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I don’t think she would be happy anywhere!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have an old friend who lives in a town with one stoplight. That they don’t need. The high school wins a state title in at least one of several sports every year. There is no restaurant. A coffee shop. Used to be a bed and breakfast. He will complain about that. But not as much as he complains about the traffic in a regular small city with no real traffic at all. People in Oklahoma warn me “That will put you in the middle of rush hour”. I look around. “This is a side street at 3 AM on Sunday morning in Dallas.” It’s all perspective. Maybe she has seen it and is all “yeah, yeah IOW.” It can happen. Like and Italian saying “yeah, yeah Venice. It’s sinking. Let’s eat.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, all true. I suppose if she’s lived in London, then the IOW is quiet. If you don’t like quiet, then you’re stuffed. I like it – my mum didn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Worked with a guy who lived most of his life in a noisy part of Philadelphia. Moved out to a quiet little town. Had to move back, the quiet drove him crazy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mother was like that. She hated living in our village after spending most of her life in London. However, she needed me in her old age, but always let me know how much she hated Suffolk.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Parents, God love ’em. Can’t live with ’em, can’t shoot ’em.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed. When my teenage self used to scream at my mother that I wanted to leave home, she would reply that she would always help me to pack my bags. I think I was a disappointment to her, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person