It's Not Cool to Pray All Up in My Face.

I won't go too far into religion here but there's one incident that I just have to share. It has to do with The Praying Lady at work.

There's a lady in my building that likes to pray out loud no matter who's around. I've been stuck in the elevator with her alone...pray pray pray. I've been stuck in the bathroom with her alone...pray pray pray. I've been on the bus with her surrounded by a million other people packed in like sardines...pray pray pray.

For the love of God, don't you have enough time to pray on your own? One particularly rainy morning, day before yesterday to be precise, I was waiting for the elevator in the lobby at about 8:30am. I was still groggy, clutching onto my coffee for dear life and a bit bitter due to all the kids and their backpacks on the bus. Two other people were standing around waiting for the impossibly slow elevator when in strolls The Praying Lady. She's quite a beautiful woman, very well put together and stylish, and always looking happy with a slight smile on her face.

Our lobby is quite big and the two other people were standing a fair distance away from me. I suppose The Praying Lady felt the need to get into my personal space. She came in and parked herself right next to me so that our arms were about an inch apart. And then it came...a strange kind of whispering with the only recognizable word being 'Lord'. Mumble... pssst...tretttt...mumble...LORD. Okay fine, I had heard it all before, but this time she was looking at me while chanting and she was way too close for comfort.

I took an exaggerated step away from her and told her she was in my personal space. She said nothing and continued to look directly at me while doing her weird whisper/chant thing. Then the elevator arrived. The two other people and The Praying Lady walked into the elevator and I hung back as the doors closed. What the hell...did she cast a spell on me!? Some kind of hex!? She freaked me out alright, and now I don't tolerate her presence anymore. I saw her in the bathroom again today and I actually left without washing my hands. That's how badly I don't want to see her or be in the same room as her.

Pray if you must lady, but don't come up into my personal space at 8:30 in the morning and start pushing your prayers onto me. And don't for one second expect me to be okay with it. You're freaky and I want nothing to do with you, not even shared air. Until next time Praying Lady, and maybe I'll prepare a chant just for you. A "get out of my personal space" chant.