I'm no hero...

Ever since the destruction of the memory stone, I have had a number of occasions where I wish I still had it to make myself disappear from the memories of some people. Today was one of those days.

I was at the market, because what had started as a simple request for a dozen eggs by my significant other had turned into a whole grocery list, and everyone knows that the market is always packed on a Sunday morning, even during these times. A quart of milk and the dozen eggs later, I was in the juice aisle trying to make sure I got 100% cranberry juice instead of the cocktail, which is only 27% juice. There was a mother and her two daughters in the aisle trying to figure out what to get. I think her name was Victoria, and I recognized her from various events around town.

"All right girls, pick out some juice," she instructed them.

"What about this one?" The elder of the two daughters asked, trying to lift a gallon jug of cranberry.

"Hmm... I don't know. How many bits is it?" Victoria asked. Her daughter peered at the price tag.

"Twenty bits."

"For juice? That's outrageous. We'll try a different market," she said, and with that, the trio moved on to the next aisle.

As for me, I snagged a 24 pack of pineapple juice and a pair of smaller cranberry containers that were on sale at two for five. I felt a bit guilty about not offering Victoria a couple of bits for juice... I mean, it's for the kids, right?

I finished finding the rest of the items on my list, paid at the checkout counter, and wheeled my carriage to Harvey, my Honda. Yes, I nicknamed my car... I'm that kind of geek. As I was unloading my cart into the trunk, a big white SUV pulled up with one of those little purse dogs poking its head out of the window and it's tongue lolling like it was having the best day ever. The driver got out, and started puttering around, adjusting the windows and that sort of thing. She obviously intended to leave the dog in the car by itself. On a hot day.

Now, a couple of years ago, an acquaintance of mine had done something similar, and now if you Google her name, a picture of her mugshot is the first thing that shows up. Someone had complained, and the laws have really cracked down this sort of animal abuse. She was arrested and fined... and it's very possible that the dog was taken away from her as well, but I was never able to find out about that. Now, I don't take issue with how the law was applied to her. She made a mistake, and her dog was "in obvious distress" according to the police report. However, the death threats that she received on social media were uncalled for, in my personal opinion.

"How about we take you and lock you in your car for an hour and see how you come out afterward?" was one of the tame ones. She had to remove herself from social media. What's worse, someone who happened to have the same name as her from a different state started receiving similar threats as well, and had the worst time trying to convince the attackers that she was a completely different person. You know, despite having selfies that showed that she wasn't the same person as the one in the mugshot. People are so stupid...

So flashing back to today, I witness this person about to leave her dog, and thoughts of my acquaintance's trials... and at that moment she catches me watching her.

"Can I help you?" she sneers.

"Nope," I say, and quickly hop into Harvey to drive off.

Coward...