NEGATIVITY FAIRY

My son Alex and I were driving home from the beach when we passed a landscaping crew working on a property. It looked as if they were trimming back some shrubs. I watched as one of the workers struggled to drag a large barrel filled with yard debris down the gravel driveway. He was using both hands as he tugged and pulled the barrel over the gravel.

“He could use some wheels on that barrel.” I said as we drove by.

Alex looked over at the worker, then at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m just saying.”

Immediately after that I saw a car pulled up to a house with a For Sale sign on the front lawn. I pointed to the license plate on the car. “Hey Pennsylvania, I sure hope someone let you know that the house you’re looking at is in a flood zone!”

Alex looked over at the house but didn’t say anything.

I quickly had to swerve our car to miss a child riding their bike too close to the road. “Hey!” I said. “Maybe think about where you’re riding and put on a helmet!”

I looked over at Alex shaking my head. “Geez…What’s going on around here?”

Alex started to laugh as he began rapidly snapping his fingers. “You’re just whipping those negative remarks out at light speed!”

“What?” I was confused. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Well, you’ve had three negative things to say in the past…” Alex looked at his watch. “I’d say a minute.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First the landscaper had the wrong equipment. Then Pennsylvania didn’t know they were looking at a house in a flood zone and now…” He pointed to the child still having some trouble riding his bike. “Clearly he’s still learning how to ride a two wheeler and you’re yelling at him to get out of your way.”

At this point we’d pasted the biker. I took a quick look in my rear view mirror and could see that indeed he was still learning. “I wouldn’t say I was making negative remarks.” I looked over at Alex. “I’d say I was just stating the obvious.”

Alex shook his head and laughed again. “Sure. If the obvious can have a negative spin!” He held his fingers and began rubbing them together. “Just sprinkling negative fairy dust wherever you go!”

“Hey!” I laughed as I reached over and pushed him in the shoulder. “I’m not sprinkling negative fairy dust!”

“It’s like riding with the negativity fairy.”

“Oh come on!” I cried as we passed a woman wearing a ridiculously over-sized straw hat that she needed to tip her head back so she could see where she was going as she walked her dog. “Nice hat.” I said then quickly looked over at Alex. “And I meant that in the nicest possible way.”

“Sure you did.” Alex laughed as he shook his head.

I held my hand to my heart. “I swear!”

“It’s okay.” Alex said as he reached over and patted my shoulder. “Sometimes you just can’t help yourself.”

I couldn’t help but sigh. “I’ll try harder.”

Alex nodded still laughing. “Well, we’re about twenty minutes from home so, good luck with that.”