"What Lola wants-- Lola gets"

Once again despite my earliest promises to myself that I won't allow a certain individual get to me I allowed that person to get to me. It actually all started before I even saw her. Wednesday night I got to thinking of her. Thursday morning I was girding up my loins to do battle with her. By Thursday night we engaged in our first skirmish over the food.

I've done a lot of soul searching since returning from Texas Camp. Here is why I dislike this person so irrationally. Let's call her Lola. (Lola because of the character in "Damn Yankees".) Lola is an individual who appears to be very popular. People fawn all over her. Lola dances the best. Lola sings so well. Lola plays the fiddle the best. So you think I'm jealous of her? Perhaps. But I don't think it's in the traditional way. I don't want to be like her. See, if I were to treat people the way she treats people I would have long ago been lynched from the nearest tree. No. I don't want to be like her. Just once, I would like to deal her a wound. Not physically but emotionally, psychologically. I sound terrible but let me describe Lola's behavior and character.

When Lola is forced to dance with a person that she thinks is inferior, her face turns and her nose goes up in the air. If they are truly a clod in dancing Lola will lecture them and demean them until they slink away. Should you dare to opine against Lola-- you better have a thick skin for she will tear into you and shred you. Thereafter you have marked yourself for future set downs. You are now an ignorant being totally unworthy of anything.

Now I question, "How do people like this get to be so damn popular?" I always thought that popularity equated an individual that has compassion and goodwill towards others. But of course as we all know from our school experience that popularity has nothing to do with one's compassion or goodwill. There is something else that makes these people attractive. I don't know what it is. If you think it is looks I would have to disagree. Because then Lola ought to be out of the running for popularity especially because she's recently picked up about 30 pounds; much to my delight.

I continue my grievances with newly discovered fodder. This year I discovered that Lola pretty much runs the camp despite who might really be the camp director. The schedule is design to suit the tastes of Lola. Lola doesn't like it when she has to choose between activities. So the activities are planned so our little darling can go to everything that she wants to. The camp band came up with a nice idea to include the dancers in on a song. Lola threw a fit and things were changed because Lola didn't like the idea.

But this year things changed for me. I found allies. I discovered this after the camp was forced to sing happy birthday to Lola for the second time around. (Not everyone in the camp was there for the first time because they chose different activities.) This was at dinner. I was sharing a table with another family of small children. After the song I stood up and asked, "Hey Lola, is it the big 50?" Let's face it folks, that was nice compared to another impulse I had to ask about her weight gain. Well, this other couple looks at me and lets loose with all of their dislikes of Lola and her crowd. They also told me about the silent war they were waging against her this year. The woman was bidding against Lola on all of the silent auction items. Oh how this tickled me!

Finally I know that I am not alone in my dislike of this individual. I've always known there were others but they never seemed willing to take the bull by the horns. It's just nice to know that there are others giving her a zap and a sting from time to time. Perhaps now that I know that someone else is out there thinking up ways to vex Lola I can let go just a bit.