Sunday, August 5, 2012

Sunday in Central Park

As I sit at the bus stop, in Dumont, New Jersey, I am surrounded by people I have nothing in common with, yet we share impatience smiles and look down the never-ending road in hopes of seeing a faint image of our bus. There is a togetherness that we are sharing- a sameness; “WHERE THE HELL IS THE BUS?!” I jest. There is a warmth among us, but it is 95 degrees on a windless day what would one expect to feel. The bus finally arrives and these same people with whom I just shared unique life moments with are now the people I PRAY DO NOT SIT NEXT TO ME on the bus! I put my backpack on the seat next to me. I will only move it for attractive people that smell good. Attractive people can smell kind of funky sometimes. This bus travels through Union City so one can only imagine the people that get on the bus. I swear one woman has a pig head in her purse. It has been many years since I have taken a bus. Head sets and texting has taken the place of people’s need to make mindless conversation, unfortunately they still over spray themselves with cheap perfume and insist on sitting next to me! We stop at a red light and I look out the window. I watch people struggling to carry grocery bags to their apartment. They look so tired, so beaten up by life. I wonder what they are thinking. They are probably thinking “You son of a BITCH! Stop writing and help me with my grocery bags!” I can sympathize with their pain- I just found out the Express bus is a local and all these gross people are getting on board. Note to self: What sounds like a good idea usually isn’t. Next time drive! I never get tired of looking at New York City from the Lincoln tunnel. I guess riding a bus does teach you patience- I just wish it was filled with pretty people. So I get out of The Port Authority on 42nd Street and I am pushed, kicked and poked before I can make it out of that flee bitten hell hole- gotta love public transit. First thing to accomplish on my single day in Central Park is Brunch! There are so many places to choose from as I walk down 9th Avenue. I try to play a fake “Rachel Ray” from her NYC on $10.00 a day, but get hungry before I get three blocks. I stopped at NIZZO. They had a mouth-watering Pizza Uova ; taleggio, sausage, onion &2 eggs and Orange Juice for $14.75. Service was with a smile and fast. The food was very filling and good! You could see the poor waiter had a hard night and these tourists were giving him such a hard time. There were three tables one with six children and two with parents and grandparents. It was interesting to watch. They had all these maps and were quizzing the bitter brunch waiter and asking his suggestions. I can tell he is nursing a hangover, but the tourists think they are experiencing New York City Attitude. I remember those brunch days. I used to work brunch at the West Bank CafĂ© and had a ball with Alex. It was a buffet so all we had to do was take egg orders and drinks. We would be so hung over and gagging at what these people would eat! I walk through Broadway to get to Central Park. I LOVE the energy that Sunday matinee days bring to the mid-town area. I got to see my friend, Amanda Green’s “Bring It On” marque!
Love her! Love it!
My favorite Broadway Street is 45th Street. So many theaters with so many shows playing! I am a little disturbed by all the cartoon characters running after you to pose for pictures with them, but even more baffled by the dancing M&M’s, Peanut Butter Cups, and Twizzler Licorice stick. Broadway has become a deathly temptation for a diabetic.
Central Park There is a beauty just walking into Central Park that is matched by no other. I don’t care if you live in the open fields of a forest; Central Park puts nature to shame.
New Jersey may have the trees and the grass, but you never see people enjoying it!
I had a few sights that I had wanted to see the first being the famous Friedsam Carousel.
As a teenager I loved riding Central Park’s Carousel, it was one of the only Carousel’s that you could reach for the brass rings! I found the Carousel, but also found out that they do not grab for the brass rings anymore. If we keep taking traditions away there won’t be anything for the kids to carry on.
What I love about Central Park is that you do not need an ipod or head set for music, the music is supplied by the gifted music students practicing on the benches and the homeless. There is no better sound then being serenated by the sounds of the street. Walking through Central Park is like being a part of the theater of life! Central Park is filled with the most beautiful statutes. I found the Hans Christian Anderson statute and was surprised to see a line of people formed to take pictures sitting on his lap. I had no idea that people knew who he was!
The Alice in Wonderland statute always has me humming Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”
You can’t walk through Central Park without stopping to admire Belvedere’s Castle. The young couple’s out on the lake for an afternoon row in the boats….Here I start humming “That How You Know” from Enchanted.
And how random that there is a Swiss Chalet in the middle of Central Park?!
Central Park is the real DisneyWorld for young and old! Strawberry Field's would definately be Wonderland- Where would we be if John Lennon was still with us?
As I leave the Park and realize I have no idea when the last bus is out of NYC! I have to race to the Port Authority because with my luck the last bus is at 6! As I am shooting down the street maneuvering between the residents of midtown who are getting pissed at me pushing around them I stop short in my spot! Time and busses have just flown out of my mind with the vision I am experiencing at this moment-a moment that will never happen again. People find excitement in NYC, they find careers in NYC, they find their dreams in NYC- I find a man walking a GOAT in NYC! I have to stop and take a moment to digest this, and also take a picture.
So my day in the city has come to an end and like Maria from “The Sound of Music” when she leaves the mountains that fill her heart with music; I leave the city that fills my heart with clogged arteries! All the soda, ice-cream, pretzels, hot dogs, ice-cream, soda, and water I had to eat and drink to keep up my energy! I cannot wait to get off the bus so I can go to Dunkin Donuts/ Baskin Robbins Ice-Cream shop. I have a lump of hot dogs stuck in my throat and I need a milk shake to swallow it down!
p.s….Dunkin Donuts merging with Baskin Robbins ice-cream was definitely the wish of a fat person.

Friday, July 27, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTONIO!

HOT AND SEXY! Antonio Cedeno promised and delivered! Wall to wall HOTNESS! Arriving late it took my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the beauty that surrounded me! I walked right into a summer blond go-go dancer. SURFS-UP! My mouth dropped and before I could recover a group of Latin hotness made their way around me to go out for a smoke. My mouth has still not recovered from surfer boy! BEAUTIFUL! Suddenly I felt a hug and squeeze and turned to see Antonio Cedeno and the warmest smile. I have known Antonio many years and he still makes me feel so special. He greeted me and asked if I need a drink and set me up before the night took him away. There was so much going on and so many people pouring in to see him! I was surprised that I did not see any of the Jersey friends. I stood there watching Antonio greet his guest and pose for pictures. I was so proud to just watch. I have known Tony (Antonio) for so many years and have seen life test him so many times. He rose to each challenge and always gave it his best. Sometimes he struck out, and sometimes he hit a homerun-tonight was a HOMERUN!
The dancers were the hottest as promised; the group was up for a great time; laughing and chatting up a storm! The music was sick! One great mix after another, DJ Billy Lace kept the crowd alive and moving. Amid the crowd there was a sudden flurry of flashes as Aiden Leslie made his entrance dressed in white. New York is definitely in love with this guy. I tried to say hello to him, but he was whisked away by adoring fans. I have to admit I love when I see people in their environment and Aiden Leslie’s place is to belong to the world. He posed and smiled like a child on Christmas morning. Aiden’s performance was BRILLIANT! I lose sight of my surroundings when he performs. What an aura!
As the evening progressed so did the number of guest and go-go dancers. I wasn’t sure who was a dancer and who was a customer and I was not complaining. The only thing to take attention off the evening’s sexual heat that the party was creating was the appearance of Tone Tone’s birthday cake! It was a GREAT evening and the present I got was watching my friend Tony (Antonio Cedeno) shine as bright as the stars! Happy Birthday Buddy and many, many more!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

ANTONIO'S G-LOUNGE BIRTHDAY FRIDAY JULY 27th

So last Sunday while everyone was enjoying themselves at the SAND BLAST in Asbury Park I was taking advantage of a “gay free” NYC- like that could ever happen. I have a friend who is “married” and we go into the city for brunch once a month. He is determined to marry me off. OK here it is…We are on the PATH into the city to have brunch and I over hear these guys talking about Antonio Cedeno’s. I interrupt their conversation to ask how they know Antonio. “His parties are the hottest in NYC - G-lounge Friday nights. This Friday is his BIRTHDAY Celebration, even you might get lucky.” …And people wonder why I am bitter. We get off the PATH and hit a brunch on Bleeker. We get one of those gay guides and I open it up to this:
Antonio Cedeno’s Birthday bash at g-lounge on Friday the 27th at 10. Aiden Leslie is performing! I have a secret school boy crush on AIDEN LESLIE! He is the most down to earth artist I have ever met! GREAT STAGE TALENT and WARM HUMAN BEING OFF STAGE. Talk about a full package! Check out his site and I guarantee you will fall in love with him yourself! http://aidenleslie.com/
After brunch we went to the GYM BAR My Married friend and I agreed there was no Mr. Right material there, but good drinks. It was at GYM BAR that we found out that not only is Antonio celebrating his birthday, but also Gabriel Antony. I am still amazed at how I mention “Antonio Cedeno Promotions/Events” in NYC and all these people know who I am talking about! AMAZING!
After a few more drinks and a bad visit to the old LIMELIGHT which is now a department store! We go to BOXERS and I see a kinda possibility guy. I don’t tell my married friend because he would have us locked in a bathroom stall until there was an engagement announcement. Why do married people thing everyone should be married? I thought he winked at me and was walking over to him and realized he had a nervous twitch. THANK GOD the bathroom was next to him because I just continued to “walk on by.” In the bathroom I realized a nervous twitch wasn’t the worst thing my kinda possibility Mr. Right could suffer from. Such is my love life! We ended up at SPLASH. It was slow, but what do you want at 5pm on a Sunday afternoon. I see a guy who was cute and I think he followed me from GYM BAR. My married friend had to get home and marinate chicken for his lover/husbands dinner the following night…I am just getting into the night and we have to catch a train! I curse not bringing my car! I brazenly go over to the cute guy and hand him the AD for ANTONIO CEDENO’S hotmale I will be there and I hope to see you! That goes out to ALL OF YOU TOO!!!!!! Take off to the sounds of Billy Lace for the sexiest night in town. With hosts Birthday Antonio Cedeno & Gabriel Anthony. Destination HOT MALE. Aiden Leslie Performing Live ! "Diamond Dreams" Special guests Ruffskin( David Amuso), Platinum Wet,( Antonio Martinez), Cakes Boss's Tony Tone Tone Albanese is whipping up Something outrageous Featuring the HOT HOUSE dancers, the hottest staff and crowd in NYC. Drink specials from 10pm - midnight. NO COVER

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Kindergarten Capers- part1

So I get a call at 5:47 am to teach kindergarten. “It’s a half day but you will be paid for the full day!” the woman in charge of calling substitutes in my school district informs me. “Sweet!” I thought to myself. I got into teaching a few years ago and keeping with my” fear of commitments”, I am not a permanent teacher, just a substitute. Actually, once I got my certification to teach there became a freeze on hiring teachers. If I was religious man I would think that God was trying to tell me something, but conveniently I am not on speaking terms with God at the moment- when I get a full time job, maybe then I will talk to him again.
Anyway, there I am getting ready to go into school for my easy money making half day. I should have known I was in trouble when the lesson plans were 8 pages long- Double sided. High-lighted even before the lesson plan begins- in CAPITAL BOLD LETTERS- SEE NURSE. I go to see the nurse…”Well Joey-John and Macolany and Cynathith in the AM have diabetes and need a shot 15 minutes before snack and have to drink OJ but Joey-John can only drink the pulp and Cynathith gets the heart healthy but only a half a glass or she will convulse. Danialannalee is sensitive to peanuts but only the shell peanuts and Westanora has an abnormal fear of thunderstorms. The PM children have it worst…”
She continued to list all the inflictions these poor children would be succumbing to before the bus comes to take them home. Bus?
The school secretary chimed in “Oh yes, The AM students will be awaiting at the classroom door, but at 9:27 AM Micahedksju and Albernessy come to the office and are bussed to another school. At 10:30 the AM students pack up and go home and the PM students arrive on a bus and have to be picked up at EXACTLY 10:50AM..Now Jarcolester and Anniemarilyn and Markuserious stay over from the AM class, but any other students are still waiting to be picked up you have to bring them to the office and call home before the bus drops off the other students.” I must have looked like a deer caught in head lights because I was assured that it would all work out and to just go relax at the classroom. I still had 10 minutes before the bell rang. I got to my classroom and the door was locked. I go strolling to find the key. The janitor kept be entertained telling me the history of who pukes and who poops in their pants. Yes, what sub has to do to get into their classroom. As we turn the corner I see 17 little children crying hysterically! “What’s the matter?” I cried!
“The teacher forgot us!” they muffled through their tears.
“I am your teacher and I didn’t forget you.” I announce as if I was Superman to the rescue.
Little Jabar kicks me in the shins “Then why did you leave us in the hallway alone to get kidnapped?!” The janitor informs me that kindergarten starts 10 minutes earlier than the other grades.
Mind you I don’t even have the classroom door opened yet
I open the door and the little cherub’s almost knock me over to get to their seats and unpack. They know their routine and plow ahead. I am trying to make out this lesson plan only to notice that the kids are faster at settling in than I am at reading. I try to take attendance only to realize that I am an illiterate when it comes to pronouncing names. What happened to Mary and Johnny? Now I have Octovianna and Analissa and Gaybrealla. I finish taking attendance had ask one of the kids to take it to the office.
At that moment little girl with a name that starts with the letter X starts to cry.
“What is wrong?” I ask her.
“It’s my job to take the attendance down to the office.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Okay it is going to be that kind of day! She smiles and says “Ah-choo! Ah-choo!” “Bless you, are you alright?” I ask. She gets excited and helps this girl who just came in, unpack. I was about to ask her who she was when “Puke it up Peppie”, who seems to throws up when it’s too hot, starts to gag. I managed to get him into the bathroom before it was too late.
All this before 9:00 AM.
First up-morning work, I was left a math work sheet with cent amounts for the students to work on. I hand them out and before I even got the last page handed out I see hands up.
“Yes little boy in the boy?”
“My name is Montigaincarlosabdiel.”
“Well today it’s little boy in the boy.”
“But I like and I am proud of being called Montigaincarlosabdiel.”
“Well today be proud to be called little annoying boy in the blue, now what did you want?”
“What happened to your hair?”
“Are you over 50?”
“Do you have a wife?”
“What is your favorite color?”
“Why is your shirt all wet.”
“Your hair is wet.”
And 38 more questions
The questions came faster than my brain could comprehend. There has to be a Guinness Book of records category for the most questions answered in a 30 second time period.
The coin work sheet had pictures of coins and the students had to identify the amounts...ex: 5 pennies circle the amount 6 or 5…
I figured this would give me a few minutes to look over the 8 page lesson plan…Before I could put my butt in the seat I hear some sniffles:
I look up from reading to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“We don’t know how to add!” Four of the students flood the room with their tears!
“Chill-lax” I tell them
They think this is the funniest thing they ever head and start to laugh. I am trying to get their attention and the more I try to calm them down the louder their laughing gets. Children are so funny. I am getting really flustered and trying to stay angry, but the more I get angry the harder they laugh. They think my face looks funny when I get angry and I think of Donald Duck getting angry and how I used to laugh at him. I start to laugh myself.
I try to teach them how to count but this one kid is more interested in sticking the pencil up his nose. It gets stuck. He thinks it’s hysterical. “Fine you walk around all day with a pencil hanging out of your nose and be called Pencil Nose Boy!”
“Pencil Nose Boy! HAHAHA That is funny! I’m a Pencil Nose boy!”
I send him down to the nurse with a partner.
The lesson plan had allowed 15 minutes for to execute and we were hitting 30 minutes adding pennies! I decided to move on to calendar time. If you were want to know what it is like to be a P.O.W. just try to skip a Kindergarten’s calendar time.
“We HAVE to do calendar time!!!!”
“You are SO MEAN!”
“That’s NOT how you do it!”
“We have to sing the weather song!”
“You’re not a good teacher!”
“We HATE You”
“I want to sing the days of the week song!”
“I want to do the weather!”
Needless to say these kids take calendar time pretty serious! In the middle of calendar time I get a call from the office. “You marked Nashew absent but her parents said they dropped her off this morning. Before I send out an Amber Alert can you double check?” I turn to the class “Is a Naschew here?”
“Here I am!”
“When did you get here?”
“I told you Ah-chew was here and all you said was Bless you to me! Mr. R you gotta learn to listen”
I inform the front office that she is here and a sigh of relief is heard. I ask how Pencil boy is doing and she sounds puzzled. I explain that I sent two boys down to the office about 15 minutes ago. They never arrived.
I hang up the phone and my heart sinks. I hear they names being called over the speaker. I get a call a few minutes later. They were found and the pencil was released. Seems he became the school “show and tell” stopping into all the classrooms on the way down to the nurse’s office explaining how he got the nick name “Pencil Nose boy.”
So as I try to calm down the little cherubs, they announce “IT’S SNACK TIME!!!!!” YAY!!!”
These kids can’t add 4 pennies but they know when it’s snack time. I threaten to take their snack time away if they don’t lower their voices…
“We’ll DIE without snack!”
“You’re trying to KILL US!”
Three of the kids start to cry thinking they are going to die…
“I just want to see my mommy!” Magnanagellio cries
I try to calm them down the kids down by reassuring them that they weren’t going to die. They only calm down after I trip over Nathan-Daniel back pack. Why it was in the middle of the room only the Kindergarten fairies know.
I get them calmed down and have them write the letter “Z”-TOTAL CHAOS! It amazes me that we can teach 4 year olds to program DVD players but cannot teach them how to make the letter Z. Hananyteate was making the letter “R” because they are prettier. They were making 7’s and 2’s and had no concept what a “Z” was, never mind what words started with a “Z”.
Then one pencil tip broke and the chaos continues. Who has a pencil, who doesn’t. All of a sudden the word pencil makes them all laugh and call out pencil nose boy.
FINALLY it is pack up time. You would think they were Jews escaping the German’s. I have them lines up and Manasphit and Gallaphish are staying for the afternoon class and Sassone and Teachnique are getting pick-up by their neighbor, but not the one who usually picks them up????? Anyone left over bring to the office by 10:45 but you have to be back at the door by 10:50 to pick up the PM bus load of children and you cannot leave the students who are staying from the AM session in the room alone.
So at 10:45 AM I am marching with 10 out of 16 kids who weren’t picked up and I have to be back at the door in 5 minutes…I get into the office with these little midgets and run to the other end of the school as I get half way back to the door I realize I left the two that I have to carry over from the AM to the PM session. I have to run back to the office and get the little guys, who don’t want to leave the air-conditioned office. Knowing I have less than a minute to get to the door for the bus kids I grab the two kids under my arms and take off. I feel like Rev. Scott in “The Poseidon Adventure” when he grabs Robin, the little kid, and races to safety. Unfortunately, I was three minutes late and had an angry mob waiting. “It’s hot out here.”
“Who are you?”
“Where is our REAL teacher!”
“Where’s your hair?”
And the PM session begins ... more to come from Little French Boy…


PS...Creative license has been applied

Sunday, May 8, 2011

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Saturday, May 7, 2011

A Motherless Mother's Day

A Motherless Mother’s Day
When I lost my mother a friend welcomed me to the “club”. I felt a little uncomfortable being told that I was in a “club”. To me clubs were fun. There was nothing “fun” about being motherless. All too soon I found out what she meant by being a member of a club. No one but another “club member” knows what it feels like when you realize you don’t have parents, you have a parent. You now go to your dad’s house, not your parents’ home. Your friends talk about their parents and you don’t have anything to add to the conversation, or they apology and change the subject. You feel like a helium balloon that escaped the security of a warm hand holding you in place. You float aimlessly.
I drifted the first couple of months. I found alcohol my best friend. I found the voices of angels in every sip. The voices would tell me this isn’t the answer. I told them to shut up. I wanted my liquor and one night dates. I didn’t want a commitment because then you have to care and when you care you lose the person to death. I didn’t want that again. My mother would come to me and tell me this isn’t the way she wants to be remembered. I convinced myself that it was all in my mind and not her.
The holidays came and I walked through them. I would listen to friends talk about hating family and I would just go into the bathroom and cry. They say the person you kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve is the person you spend the year with-I kissed a picture of my mother.
May brought the knife in my heart – Mother’s Day. I am convinced that Hallmark is owned by Satan itself. Being reminded you are single on Valentine isn’t kind, but Hallmark has a “To My Single Friend On Valentine’s Day” card. So, now it’s a month long reminder that I am motherless. I want to remember MY mother and how she believed “Every day is mother’s day- where’s my present?”
I find myself frozen, crying in the Hallmark store at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal .I’m so over-whelmed by all this Mother’s Day stuff and I have no one to buy it for. This little oriental store owner comes smiling over to me and tells me that I am upsetting the other customers by standing in the doorway crying, and my tears are staining the stuffed Bugs Bunny’s.
I end up in the Macdonald’s and order a hamburger and shake. I hate eating alone so I try and find a corner and eat so no one can see that I am eating alone, I sit in the corner and notice a mother and father and small boy. The small boy, about 8 years old, is helping his mother sit. She is heavy and is having trouble adjusting in her seat and her loving son is helping. I become that loving son and I remember helping my mother and I start to cry. I don’t want people to see me crying, but they are staring at me. I can’t slip out of the Macdonald’s because I placed myself in a corner so no one would notice me and now EVERYONE is noticing me! Then I see them all looking at their food and I catch a reflection of myself in the window and see that hamburger meat is hanging out of my mouth. Everyone is wondering if I am crying because my hamburger is bad. I just want this mother who has a loving son helping her to hug me. I want to feel a mother’s hug. I get out of my seat and start to walk over and as I do I over hear her say to her husband, “we have to get out of the city- all these sicko’s are taking over.”
I start to laugh- that’s what my mother would have said. I take this as my mother’s way of letting me know she is fine.
A friend of mine lost his mother and I welcome him into the club. He reminds me that is mother was old and had a good life. He also felt free to travel now.
My mother was right about mother’s day, it is every day and she is missed every day. I’m still not sure if I want to attach my heart to someone , but it’s nice to know I have a heart to be attach

Friday, April 29, 2011

Eddy's Pity Party


Eddy’s Pity Party
So I get to my car after work only to find that someone backed into my car. Someone either K turned or pulled out of a drive way. I want to cry. I just spent the week “day” subbing after finishing a long term teaching sub position. I found out that the district I am in will probably not be hiring next year. I have to find a job for the summer and hope for a teaching position for next fall. I just buried my friend’s father who was like a second father to me. He always had me sit down and tell him what was happening with me- just like my dad. He listened and gave me advice-just like my dad. I didn’t take the advice-just like I never took my dad’s. As I looked at him lying in a coffin I feel guilty because his sons NEVER made him feel like he was a burden and I always made my dad feel like one. Whenever we went out to dinner he would embarrass the hell out of me! He would order a hamburger deluxe without the pickle, lettuce and tomato and no cole slaw. I would argue with him –“
“Why order the deluxe if you don’t want what makes it a deluxe? “ “
I just want the fries.”
“Then order a hamburger with an order of fries.”
“It’s fifty cents more that way.”
“I’ll give you the fifty cents.”
Fifteen minutes later…”Where’s my burger?”
“You ordered it well done.” ….
”So?”
“It takes time for them to burn it.” …
Burger arrives and is sent back because the pickle touched the burger bun…
”I can’t have pickle touch my bun. I am allergic to pickles”
“You are not allergic to pickles.”
“They don’t know that.”
The man was kicked out of a Friendly’s, an ihop, a Sizzler’s and a hot dog stand. Who gets banned from a hot dog stand? My dad.
I miss him every day but if the truth be told I don’t miss going out to dinner with me. Losing my friend’s dad was like losing my dad all over again and it didn’t help to find that he is buried in the same cemetery as my dad.
Thursday morning I woke up so excited. As a substitute teacher you get to know many kids and watch them grow. For the past two years I was exclusive at one school and watched these children grow into terrific kids. At the beginning of this year I was sent to another school for a long term and wasn’t able to meet these kids until Thursday! I usually park my car in back of the school, but I was in a hurry this morning and ended up parking on a neighboring street. I go into the school and am greeted by the little chick-lets that I have seen grow through the years. They all smile and make me feel so good to be a teacher.
At Lunch time I went to my car and my jaw dropped! Someone had hit between the driver’s door and front wheel making opening the door near impossible. It opens slightly and I literally had to inhale until I turned purple to slide into the car. A HIT AND RUN and I am driving a car that belongs in a crash derby. WHY ME! Is all I can think? Where is my good luck?
I think to myself I need to get away. A friend of mine invited me up to Rhode Island. He invites me every three months and every three months he finds a reason to cancel. I just want a few days away to just clear my mind. Take a vacation from life. He promised and was making plans and at 2:30 I get a text message, “My boss wants me to work this week-end. I haven’t said yes yet.”
So here I am at the end of the week having a pity party for myself! Why is God doing this to me? Why can’t I have one GOOD day? Why can’t I have some happiness? !!!!
I have no hope left and just want one break; a teaching job, a new car, a glimmer of light to relight my hope- but I get nothing.
I find myself on the track and run to forget. I can’t concentrate on the run so I run over to the “Stop and Shop” to buy a salad for dinner. I get my lettuce and tomatoes and head to the self-service express line. There is person checking out and one waiting. I get in line and the man in front of me is frustrated that it is taking so long. I start getting frustrated myself. I see this tired looking woman. She looks old, but you can tell it’s from life taking its toll on her. It is apparent that her teen age son suffers from palsy. He is trying to help her take things out of the cart. The guy in front of me is making noises and getting agitated. The teen ager takes a jar of pickles and gets nervous from this guy mumbling and drops the pickles. The jar breaks. Everyone jumps! The guy in front of my storms off screaming, “Damn retard!” The woman yells at the son for trying to help and stares at me in anger. I find calmness in the chaotic moment. I look at her and say, “God must love you a lot to send you such a special son.” She looks at her son and smiles. “He is my life.” I smell the pickle juice and think of my dad. All the managers come to help clean up the mess.
I walk home from the store thinking how lucky I was to have the opportunity to go on job interviews. I see people at a bus stop and I think my car still runs. And as far as Rhode Island is concerned, I can do that any week. Compared to some people’s lives my problems are bumps next to the mountains they have to climb.
I think of my dad and I realize people don't come back to you in dreams and visions, telling you how great you are. They come back to you in actions that remind you of them and it's their way of saying, "You did good." I think it's ok to throw a pity party as long as you know when the party is over and you get back into the world of the living.