What initially prompted this post is a follow up to the burning question about the “unhappy” oncology nurse mentioned in my previous post. Well, the answer is, not having to poke a patient who has bad veins must be a relief. The nurse in question has been chatty and happy ever since she hasn’t had to make my husband squirm with multiple needle sticks. This experience and our experience during the latest tropical storm have given me hope that people are kind in general.
We were incredibly lucky not to be in Ian’s direct path. Seeing the destruction left behind not so far from us is heartbreaking and terrifying. It could just have easily been us and one day might be. We did have storm surge and neighbors jumped in to help move boats (like ours) to safer spots in our channel marina or to spider them in the center of the channel. (I won’t go off on a rant about continuing to own a boat that “someone” doesn’t have the energy to care for or enjoy right now. Unfortunately, we are not Amal and George Clooney [referencing how they never argue] and tropical storms can bring out the worst in some of our attitudes. OK, mine.) The “men,” as our downstairs neighbor calls them, jumped right in. Slightly antiquated thinking, but I wouldn’t have been much help anyway. I think they get a kick out of doing stuff like this. One guy jumped into the channel with a rope in his mouth and swam over to the other side to tie the boat off to a tree. I commended him on his effort.
Of course, just when I find some hope, I experience jerks. Hoping to enjoy yet another quiet late lunch after the last infusion appointment, we decided on a little spot we hadn’t frequented in a while. There were a couple of people at the bar and one couple at a table. Time to enjoy a nice view and great food! Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last. A couple of women and their dog arrived shortly after. Everything was fine until the dog decided to start yapping at the resident cat. That stopped only to have one of the women make a very loud speaker phone call to another woman who started ranting about how the country has gone to hell because of all the illegals who don’t understand our values and the days of baseball, apple pie and America are over. She’s ready for the revolution. Trying to keep up (poorly), the chick at the table agrees loudly and starts talking about that show where they ask people on the street questions and they’re all so stupid. I’m thinking to myself, aren’t those usually Americans? Luckily their food came – food delivered by a dude I’m sure isn’t from here and cooked by one who I’m pretty sure isn’t from here.
They were quiet for a while. When the waiter asked how the food was, the loud chick said the nachos were a little soggy, but, you know, when you’re hungry… He made the mistake of laughing; it just made her think she was SO funny she had to repeat it. He offered to bring them something else and, not surprisingly, they took him up on it. As much as I wanted to make some parting comment, I didn’t. I tried not taking too much satisfaction in imagining why the nachos might be soggy knowing full well that even the kitchen staff would have heard the bigoted commentary coming from that table.
Still holding out hope for humanity.
Recharting at a new latitude 