IN THE PINK

My brother keeps warning me that I should not strike up conversations with strangers, but who could resist the following:

As a young woman walked into a local restaurant, I noticed that she was color-coordinated with pink hair, bra, purse, and pink fur-lined boots. She and her companion were seated in a booth behind me. I asked, "Let me guess--is your favorite singer PINK?" She laughed and said "Yes!"

She was obviously eager to chat and I learned that her name is Ashley and she accompanies her husband on trips as he is a long-distance truck driver. She also likes "Hello, Kitty". When I told her that I have "Hello, Kitty" charms, she took one of my business cards and told me she would order some charms as she had a bracelet at home.

She pointed out her tattoos and a number had pink backgrounds and several of the tattoos represented family tragedies.

As we were getting ready to leave, she stood to have her picture taken and she showed us her pink telephone, pink computer case, and a pink drink cup.

When I mentioned that her husband looked like Eric Clapton, she said they didn't like "country and western music". I insisted that Clapton was definitely not a country and western singer, but she thought that Tears in Heaven is a country song, but I said that it was merely schmaltzy. When she told me that the song had been played at the funeral of a child in her family, I was glad she probably didn't know what I meant by schmaltzy.