They made me do it!

Now, I pride myself on being professional in most situations. Yesterday, though, not so much. I had been sick as a dog and was trying to make it through the day since I needed to give a curriculum assessment to my three classes. Well, on the way to daycare, Kalyn (Tootie) announced that she had to go potty. There was no place to stop at the time, so I told her she was going to have to hold it until we got to daycare at Ms. Jena's house. She gave me a weak, "Okay" so I knew she was struggling to hold it. After two more, "I have to pee-pee's" I stopped at this Shell station that also serves at a corner market/liquor store that I saw. Mind you, it was raining, so I had to take both girls out of the van in the rain, sick as a dog, with one child on my hip and one holding my hand while trying to balance the umbrella over the three of us somehow.

Well, I got to the door of the store and asked if they had a bathroom. Here is how the exchange went:

Me: Excuse me, but so you have a bathroom?
Older Korean Lady: Bah-woom?
Me: Baath-rooom. You know, restroom, potty, toilet, bathroom?
Older Korean Lady: Baaahk (pointing to some doors at the back of the store)

At this point, I am running through the store with the girls pleading with Tootie to hold on just a minute more. We got to the doors and found both doors locked. I turned to the front of the store and asked which door was the bathroom.

Younger Korean Man (who had been watching the entire thing): Bathroom no work.
Me: Then why in the heck didn't you say something when I asked at first?
Younger Korean Man: Bathroom at laundry mat down sigh-walk.
Me: You should've said that at first, hell! (I know. I NEVER talk like that around my girls, but I was ready to shank a fool at that moment.)

So, we go racing down the sidewalk of the strip center to the laundry mat where I once again pleaded with Tootie to just hang on a minute. Then I noticed for the first time that we had to walk through a bunch of guys who were waiting to be picked up for day laboring jobs. One even had the nerve to try to holler. I mean, did anything about my foul azz expression lead him to believe that I was looking for a damned date? I was REALLY ready to shank a fool at that point. We finally got to the laundromat and its nasty azz bathroom (no, it was really dirty). I didn't allow the girls to touch ANYTHING and held them up over the toilet to use it. When we got to daycare, I scrubbed their hands and mine.

I'm proud of Tootie for holding it as long as she did when I know she really had to go badly, but I'm telling you. If she had had an accident in that store, I would've been on the news because I was just that pissed.

I'm better now, and, thankfully, my girls didn't seem to notice the "hell" I added at the end of my exchange with the Korean dude. Please pray for me and my temper 'coz I really can't stress enough just how badly I was ready to set it off in that store.