Common Sense

You know, every day I learn more and more about just how sweet Ken can be.  This guy is such a humanitarian.  He has such a soft spot in his heart for all living creatures.  How do I know this?  The other day while pumping gas, he noticed a group of a dozen or so beetles and about half of them somehow ended up on their backs and were wiggling their legs frantically while trying to get back up.  (Sort of reminds me of when I was pregnant with the kids) Anyway, my sweet, sweet hubby stopped what he was doing and took the time to flip those little beetles back over.  What a guy! 

Anyway, on an unrelated note…What in the heck ever happened to good ol’ fashioned common sense?  Oh, my goodness.  Picture this…Four cripple people come into a national chain restaurant to have dinner.  Three of the four are using 160-pound power wheelchairs.  The other brandishing a five-pound wheeled walker complete with beverage cup holder.  Upon arriving, the host person grabs four menus and politely says…”Will that be a booth or table?”  Now, does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that three 160-pound power wheelchairs cannot in any way park on the seat of a booth?  Next time, Ken is going to say…”Booth, please!” and see just how long it takes for the host person to realize that it would really not be a good idea.

Anger Issues

Hello everyone!

Things around the Davert house have been busy as usual.  We dropped both of our sweeties off at camp on Sunday…and I miss them sooooo much!  But, I know they are in good hands and having a great time. 

While they are gone to camp, Ken and I thought we would take the opportunity to have a little vacation.  So, on the way home, we zipped over to Frankenmuth for an overnight stay.  For those of you who don’t know what Frankenmuth is, it is a little tourist town with a German flair.  We had a ball.  We went swimming and had the best old-fashioned chicken dinner at the Bavarian Inn.  The Bavarian Inn is a huge restaurant.  As amazing as it may seem, when the waitress seated us, it was the same table we sat at last year! 

This weekend, I realized that I definitely have some anger issues that need to be addressed.  And I do believe this vacation was a good first therapy session.  Whenever things don’t go my way, my first reaction is to get angry about it.  And then I typically stew about it for at least a day or two.  There is probably some deep rooted childhood thing that is associated with my behavior, or maybe it is just a bad habit of mine, but all that doesn’t matter.  I just know I need to be a much more patient person today.

After we checked out of our hotel the next morning, I went over to a concierge desk to ask about our Perks Club points.  I was anxious to get going, because Ken and I had a lot of sightseeing to do that day.  With only one lady in front of me, I figured it wouldn’t take long.  Boy was I wrong.  This lady was the most chattiest person I ever met.  (Is there such a word as chattiest? Oh well, it fits this story so I’ll use it!)  This lady talked about all her ailments, about her friends and their names and ailments, about where she was going next on her vacation and who she was going to visit…and she went on, and on, and on, and on…

I turned back to Ken who was sitting about 30 feet away and gave him a confused and angry look.  He shrugged his shoulders.  I turned back, and the lady was still going.  I then came up with the brainy idea that I would skooch my power chair up closer so I could be seen in her peripheral vision.  Maybe if she knew someone was behind her, she would politely end her conversation.  Well, that didn’t work either.  I learned more about her family, and the people who worked for her…on and on and on...  Then, “angry” kicked in.   I was not only getting angry at that lady, but the concierge behind the desk.  I was getting angry at the lady’s mother who gave birth to her, and everyone who did her wrong in her life who were the subject of all these stories she wanted to tell. 

I was about to blurt out a rude comment in the hopes that they would finally notice my displeasure… when all of our sudden….I remembered something Fr. Bert talked about in church last weekend. (See I was paying attention!)  He reminded us that our job on Earth was to be kind to others, even by simply giving a smile or a kind word.  I realized that I had two choices:  A) to allow my anger to make this a bad situation or B) I could shed a little sunshine in the world.  As difficult as it was for me to hold back my anger, I chose B.  I continued to sit patiently. 

All of a sudden, the lady looked to her side and saw me sitting there. “Oh, my goodness!”  she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. I’ve just been going on and on and you have been waiting for me.”  I touched her arm gently and said, “Oh, that is okay, it feels like I've known you for a long time!” and I smiled back at her.  “Here, let me give you a gift!”  she said as she started digging through her purse.  “Oh, no, no, no, that is okay, you don’t need to do that.”  I said, as I started feeling really guilty for being angry at all with this really sweet lady.

She pulled out of her purse a crocheted doily she made and gave it to me.  “Here, you take it. Now I made it out of cotton, so you can set a really hot pan on it…” And she proeceeded to tell me all about that doily in great detail.  “Thank you,” I said as she walked away.

Well, I decided, I’m keeping that doily in a special place to remind me about how controlling my anger can make much more positive things happen.  Thanks, Fr. Bert, for your words of wisdom!

Have a great day!

Missy