Institutionalized

Thursday I went with Dora on a mini road trip to Montana. Nevermind why. Suffice it to say that we spent a LONG time in the car. And whenever one spends excessively long periods of time in a moving vehicle, bathroom breaks become necessary. So we stopped at a gas station in the Idaho Falls area, and she and I happily skipped inside (we were very grateful to be out of the car) in order to use the restroom.

As we walked in and followed the signs directing us to the ladies room, a man wearing casual business attire (he was probably in his late 40's) stopped me with a question. This was because he had noticed my shirt. I was wearing a USU Institute t-shirt. On the front the shirt says 'Institute' in bold lettering, the back features the Aggie A and the words 'a priority.'  Noticing me and the front of my shirt, he halted my progress towards the bathroom with the question, "Wait, you belong to an Institute?" Thinking that he might be LDS and was just appreciating the fact that he could easily recognize my religious affiliations by my getup, I proudly answered him with a resounding, "Yup! I go to Institute."  He looked back at me with a concerned expression on his face and said, "Hm. That's usually not something people advertise on their shirts." I shrugged and proceeded on my way.

While I was washing my hands and thinking about this incident, it occurred to me that the kindly-intentioned gentleman was not referring to the same kind of Institute that I was thinking of. So I turned to Dora and mentioned that the man had probably thought I belong to a psych ward. She and I chuckled over it as we exited the restroom, and as we approached the exit, the same gentleman stopped me again.

You know those times when you can just look at someone's face, and you know what they are wanting to say, even though they aren't saying it very well? Well --- this was one of those times. Because this guy looked at me with this queer expression, and I just knew that he was dying, yes, simply dying, to know what I had done that would cause me to be sent to the loony bin, and what on earth was I doing in a gas station in the middle of Idaho. He  asked me in a controlled sort of voice what kind of Institute I belonged to, and when I explained, "It's an institute for religion...." he looked at me with a dubious glance and said sarcastically, "I've never heard it called that before."

And it was all I could do not to bust up laughing as I explained that it was a USU t-shirt. I am an Aggie, and that the institute there really is for religion. He then proceeded to quietly explain to himself, "Oh. You're one of those Utah people...."

And I just laughed. Because he is in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Which, while it may not be Utah, is definitely not that far from USU, Mormons, Aggies, or other such similar things.

So yes. I had a random stranger try to ask me why I'd been institutionalized. Haha.
 Best gas station experience ever. Hands down :)