Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the feeling that the world is out to get us. Thoughts swirl about as we face one hurdle after another and we convince ourselves that we are always picking the short straw. This, of course, does no good in the attitude department but there is some perverse pleasure in rolling around in its murkiness.
Recently, I had a week of craziness that piled its load of short straws on my back day after day. It started with a raging head cold, complete with oozy phlegm and achy body joints. Somehow, between sneezing and blowing my nose, my students received a lesson of sorts. In addition, it was my turn for before and after school supervision duty. I would rather fall on a fork than wrangle three hundred students in one room waiting for the day to begin. If you are picturing cherubic faces with their noses buried in books and homework, think again. It is like a birthday party for three-year-olds and Chuckles, the clown, hasn't shown up yet. My mantra is, "Ignore everything but blood." Easier said than done.
The "quick" trip after school to sign papers for a vehicle purchase also became grueling. The dealership was short on office staff so we were queued up like cattle in a chute. Ahead of us, was a very grumpy pants couple who had been given misinformation by their salesman. This, quite naturally, resulted in a lengthy visit with the manager and more waiting time for us. Just as we were on the homestretch, the salesman offered us one more add-on package to consider. Timing, buddy, timing. I spat out a "No" before the eager little guy could give us one more reason why we were crazy not to jump at his peace of mind protection offer.
The weather threw a curveball for the final day of school. The two to four inches of predicted snow became twelve to fourteen inches of fluffy icing on our cars, streets and parking lots. Best of all, the after school busses were late so five busloads of pre-hyped middle schoolers were herded into the gymnasium to await their yellow missiles. The bleachers were filled with a roiling mass of noise and varying degrees of environmental awareness. After all that fun, I floundered my way to the parking lot, through knee deep snow, and excavated my car.
It took until Saturday to break the short straw curse. One of my favorite guilty pleasures (besides chips and cheesies) is a cream cheese danish. It is a game of russian roulette each time I visit the grocery store bakery. Sometimes there are no danishes. Sometimes the danishes are overbaked and sometimes there are only apple and lemon danishes. This particular day I spied the Holy Grail of danishes. It was filled with cream cheese and it had been given just the right amount of oven time. Best of all, there was a crumble of extra goodness perched in the middle of the danish. I have no idea what the crumbly mixture is made of but I always enjoy each bite. The danish was immediately added to my cart and I felt the world becoming a little less cranky with me.
Sometimes, in a world gone seemingly mad, all we really need is a well crafted cream cheese danish and a bus that arrives on time.
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