For those of you that don't know already, I am going back to school. I'm going to be starting night school in a couple of weeks. When I'm finished I'll be a Recreational Therapeutic Therapist. Now doesn't that sound fancy??!!
But like so many things in this world, everything does not always run smoothly. Read on.....
Isn't it always the case that when you are in a hurry and minutes count, something always happens to slow you down? Here's my slow motion day....
I needed to get to MCC today to buy the books I need for school and to get familiar with the layout of the school. (it is much different now from when I went there in 1980) I knew this could eat up a large portion of the day so I was in a hurry to get there and get it over with. Of course there is always something that slows you down and that something today started with gas. I needed to put gas in the car. Well to put gas in the car I'd need money. That meant a trip to the ATM and then the gas station....two slow downs already and I haven't even left the house. No problem...I got this.
When I get to the gas station each pump has a car at it. This always necessitates making a guess as to which pump might open up first....and making that guess quickly because other cars are coming in too. Well, no one was pumping; they were all in their cars so I had no way of knowing if they were coming or going. I made a guess and pulled in behind a blue car that was closest to the attendant station.
The man in that car got out and I noticed right away he had a full head of white hair...rather impressive looking I thought. He went to the attendant station and took longer than normal to transact his business. I don't know what the issue was but it took a long time. Then he turned; walked 5 steps and stood facing his car while he slowly fished around in his back pocket for his wallet. Having found the wallet he put something in it but still had a piece of paper in his hand. Then he turned and stared at the pump for awhile.....making sure it was a pump? The pump staring was interrupted by his turning to open the gas compartment on his car. Then he turned back to the pump and resumed staring at the pump again. This is followed by finally lifting the nozzle and turning back to the car again. Then he had to remove the gas cap as he hadn't done that previously. But then he realized he hadn't selected which form of gasoline he was going to put in his car. That involved some more staring at the pump followed by (finally) button pushing. For some reason he felt he had to push the button about 8 times. Even from my vantage point I could see his selection had been accepted as the green light was on but that didn't stop him from pushing the button harder a few more times before realizing he was all set to go.
I have to admit while sitting in my car watching all this I was getting more and more irritated and was trying to keep calm while I watched this guy perform his 'idiot pumping gas' routine. I kept reminding myself that it is only a minor slow down...soon I'll be on my way. Silly me. When all the excessive button pushing was going on and the green light was clearly screaming to be noticed I found myself screaming too. First the screaming was in my head but it finally spilled over to my mouth. Yup, I was in my car screaming at this man...'pump the gas! pump the gas! pump the damn gas!!!' He couldn't hear me and it didn't make him move any faster but it did make me feel better.
Finally the nozzle was placed in the car and then he set the handle to keep running........while he turned around to face the pump and began another slow motion attempt to fish out that elusive wallet of his. Fumble, fumble in the wallet...paper still in hand. Place wallet back in butt pocket. Return to staring at the pump.
I could feel myself aging as I was watching him....
When the pump clicked off he actually reached for the nozzle and returned it to the pump! Happy day! But then it all turned sour again as he returned to the attendant station for discussion; hand gestures; paper waving and more discussion....all done in slow motion. In my car I've begun the 'get in your car' chant. It goes like this: Get in your car..get in your car...get in your car...get in your car!!!
He had me going when he finally turned around and took those 5 steps back to his car. But oh no, it's not that easy. He had to stand there facing his car and fumble for that damn wallet yet again. I'm convinced he had no reason to take out that wallet...there didn't seem to be anything going in or out of it but he had to take it out for some reason. Ok, the wallet goes back in the butt pocket and then....and then....*sigh* he had to stand next to the car with the car door open while he looked at that piece of paper in his hand. Then he folded that paper and put it in a pocket too...but not the wallet pocket. THAT would be crazy!
Then he did a truly amazing thing...he got in the car and turned it on! But don't you go thinking that he's going to drive away. No, that's crazy thinking. He still had to sit there and contemplate the state of our country or some such deep thought process or perhaps he was texting someone. All I could see was that he was looking down.
The urge to ram him was very strong at this point. But I'm pretty sure that kind of stuff is frowned upon in polite society so I held myself back. Finally he was gone and I could pull forward and get gas in my car. That accomplished (and very quickly I might add) I pulled out and started down the road. I didn't get too far when I found myself stuck behind a woman driver going slow enough to impress a snail. I can not pass her. All I can do is hope she goes in a different direction. Nope...she's going the same way I am, at a crawl, braking at every single thing she sees (no matter how far ahead it may be!); with a growing chain of cars following behind her and I'm the leader of them all. Boy, this day is really shaping up to be great!
When she finally got to the road she wanted to turn onto, she did use her blinker.....for at least a quarter mile even. Then she completed the classic move of pulling to the right (with her left blinker on) before taking that left....in slow motion. In effect she blocked the entire road on both sides while she completed this slow motion clueless driver move. I'm rolling my eyes and trying not to have a stroke, having had to come to a complete stop (and holding up that line behind me) to avoid hitting her. Once she was out of the way I continued on to the school where I had yet another encounter with a book store lady that was odd but at least not in slow motion.
She was trying to be helpful and assist me in finding my classrooms. I already had a map of the school and I was pretty sure I had my route set in my head but I wanted to do a walk through to be sure. Well by the time she got done giving me her helpful hints and such I had no idea where I was or what I was looking for anymore. I decided to just wander lost a bit and look at all the student artwork posted everywhere. I was very impressed with some of it.
Eventually I had to reverse some of my steps or suffer being lost forever. I have a fairly good sense of direction and I knew I had wandered far off in the wrong direction. I did find my way back to an area where I recognized where I was and even found myself a short cut to use when classes start. So I think I'm fairly all set for now and I've learned two good pieces of information too. The first being...give myself extra time to get there and the other....be careful who I take directions from.
All in all it was a good day. I got my books and I know where my classrooms are. I can't ask for more than that right now.
