Laughing at Oneself

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Sometimes you have to laugh when the joke is on you. In fact, maybe it is the most important time to laugh.  Maybe.  This is what I was thinking when the universe played a joke on me Wednesday evening.

You should probably note that by awarding Today’s Perfect Moment to a mischievous moment wasn’t an easy choice. It had to be done.  I accept this as truth.

When we left work, my girlfriend and I walked side by side separately, though no less desperately, clutching our umbrellas. Hers was one of the gifts I gave her on her birthday–yes Mr. Romantic that’s me–I bought it at the art store on the ground floor of the building I work in.  It was compact, durable, and an unfathomably bright shade of pink.

As we walked towards the subway station, the rain stayed the same, but the wind picked up appreciably. When we got close to the station, suddenly, her umbrella turned itself upside down and swiped its wet nylon skin across my cheek.  If you are wondering whether I was shocked or not, the answer is no.  It is only water, and considering I bought the umbrella for her, I am somewhat responsible for getting wet.  Had I bought her something else….

Laughing at oneself is hard, but is necessary.

Not When I Got to My Stop.

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There were several candidates for Today’s Perfect Moment.

I saw a Canadian actress on the subway–or I at least thought I did. I am (now) unsure as to whether I “recognized” her or just felt that I knew her from some p lace.

I had pizza for lunch. This is always worth considering since it makes me feel good.

My boss didn’t official change my hours. I know it’s coming, but every day it doesn’t happen is like a little reprieve.

I overheard some of my Japanese students talking in the hallway. I felt good when I could understand some of the things they were talking about.

Classes went pretty well today. We covered a lot of material and I was quite upbeat for the students.

I spoke to one of my bus friends because she was carrying a giant golf umbrella. She explained that she took it because she had no time to reach for the small one.  If she had stayed out as late as I did, that umbrella was an inspired choice.  If not….well, she had to lug the gigantic thing around all day.

As you can see, these are all great, and worthy of being Today’s Perfect Moment, but I am going to have award it to a fantastic fluke of Mother Nature.

While taking the bus home, it suddenly started to rain. Because it had already gotten dark, it was hard to tell how hard it was coming down looking out the bus windows.  However, when the bus doors opened to let off or take on passengers, it became rather obvious that it was raining hard.  Saying that the sound was thunderous would be hyperbole, but it would give you an idea.

The people who got off the bus scrambled for their rides or the relative safety of the bus shelter. The ones who got on the bus were soaked and looking profoundly stunned.  Two young ladies who sat next to me could barely mumble swear words to each other.  They didn’t even take out their phones to tweet about it.

Yes, I had my umbrella, but luckily for me (and the Perfect Moment part of this post) the rain stopped one stop before mine. When I got to my stop the ground was dry and the dark evening sky was clear.  I didn’t use the umbrella or any rain gear, but I was still dry.  That’s Today’s Perfect Moment.

In The Rain

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I left work with a couple of new friends. When we reached the front door one of them remarked that “it’s really coming down out there.”  Indeed it was.  We checked our bags and found that we only had two umbrellas for the three of us.  Perhaps being chivalrous or perhaps being terribly old fashioned (and potentially sexist) I suggested that the two younger ladies carry on and not worry about me.  Luckily for me they declined.

So in and adventure more fit for a sitcom that a rainy Tuesday evening, we headed out to the subway station with a hastily decided upon strategy of me between two umbrellas.

It started out quite good, but we ended up facing changes in wind direction, narrowing sidewalks, puddles that seemed more like lakes, aggressive bus drivers who seemed intent on drowning us with waves, and a broken strategy.  We were forced to dodge all these things while trying to maintain or coverage.  Puddles separated us.  Random walkers forced us into corners.  The Puddles forced us to watch our steps.

I found the whole thing quite fun, actually. Maybe it was like being a kid again.  Maybe it was like once we’d accepted the folly of the thing and knew we were well and truly in it that we decided to let go and have some fun.  We weren’t stepping in puddles purposefully, but there was a sort of madcap dash about it.

We got wet of course. I don’t know who got it worse, but I don’t think that was the point.

I wouldn’t normally consider getting caught in the rain with a substandard number of umbrellas as Today’s Perfect Moment, but that is wasn’t exactly a normal day, was it?

A Welcome Invasion of Personal Space

The beautiful weather we had in the afternoon of a clear sky and mild temperatures was probably created by the dismal dark and rainy morning. That morning also spawned Today’s Perfect Moment.

I trudged my way up the subway steps, hoping that the rain that pelted me from the bus stop before I entered the subway had magically subsided. While it had slowed to a drizzle, it certainly hadn’t stopped.  I had to wait for 3 stoplights to change to navigate the construction confused intersection at Yonge and Eglinton.  At each corner the rain was somewhat different.  I had an umbrella but hadn’t opened it yet.

Suddenly, a complete stranger sidled up next to me and covered me with her umbrella. This thing used to happen a lot when I was younger and this random act of kindness was not seen as an invasion of space.  People shared umbrellas with strangers in need.

Of course I thanked her and enjoyed standing under her umbrella. I knew, perhaps instinctively, perhaps I heard something in her voice, that she was from another country.  She didn’t say much so I suspected that her English level was not very high.  I also wondered if she was a student at the school I taught.

She left me after crossing the intersection and proceeded to walk in the same direction I was going. She walked at a good pace that I could only keep up with and proceeded to walk to the door of my school.  We shared an elevator up to her floor and smiled at each other as we parted.

I am reminded of How I Met Your Mother when Ted finally met the mother and they shared an umbrella on a train platform. I may have hated the end of that show, but I loved that scene.

I digress

As I said before, this thing used to happen a lot more often in the past. Now it seems like good manners and courtesy are rare.  I still hold doors and elevator doors open for people.  I give up my seat to people in need.  I don’t play my music so loud that it bleeds out of my earphones.

Oh, wait, now I sound like an old person struck with nostalgia for their time complaining about how life was better in the past…..

Okay, sadly, all of that might be true, but at least someone shared their umbrella with me.

 

A Pretty Grey Day

If I said it was a pretty grey day outside, would you think that I meant is was pretty and grey, or that it was rather grey? Yes, people who teach English stop to ponder these things.

However, it was a pretty grey day filled with rain that could almost have been snow. That, and I pause for either emphasis or dramatic effect, would have been prettier.  As it was my normal trudge to work, which can sometimes really be the very definition of trudge, became a slog–the very definition of slog;  a virtually unredeemable slog.

Fortunately, two things did manage to redeem it and keep my smile on until I had to slog back home in the seeming unending grey rain.

Free food

Free stuff seems to perk me up. Not surprising, really.  While boarding the subway, two people were handing out sunflower seeds and SlimJims —possibly to celebrate opening day for the Toronto Blue Jays. I say possibly because I didn’t ask.  These seem like ballpark snacks to me.

I took a SlimJim and decided to pass on the sunflower seeds. Before you gasp, I understand that I might have a) made the wrong selection  or b) taken both regardless of whether I wanted them or not.  As far as a) is concerned, I just don’t like having to unshell my sunflower seeds either by had or spitting.  You can buy sunflower seeds already prepared to eat.  Why do I have to do all the work?  As for b) if I am not going to use it and I don’t immediately know who I am going to give it to, I won’t take it.

The SlimJim was tasty, but I suspect the health benefits are negligible.

The Woman with the  Wonky Umbrella

Since I mentioned that it was a pretty grey day, obviously some well prepared people had umbrellas. That none of those people were me should not be too great a concern. It’s only water.

Sorry, I am letting the story get away from me.

Beside me at the traffic light, an attractive (and possibly age appropriate) woman was standing next to me. She didn’t make eye contact with me, so I couldn’t try to win her over with my smile or my drenched hair or attire.

As we walked, I was quite interested in her umbrella. It seemed like it was broken.   The front seemed to be shaped downward in a perfect square.  The longer I looked at it, the more I thought that it might actually have been designed this way.

Since I found myself standing next to her at the next traffic light, I innocently inquired which one was the case. She replied in her very pleasant voice that it was broken and was left at the office in case anyone needed to use it for their lunch break.

There really wasn’t anything else I could say about that. Besides, it was raining, I didn’t have an umbrella, and I had a SlimJim to eat.

 

 

August 12, 2014: Even Days Have Mood Swings

Looking out the window of the classroom, hoping that the students were too preoccupied with some grammar point, I caught several glimpses of Today’s Perfect Moment.  At first the sky was a brilliant blue–the kind of blue makes you think of deep oceans, or impossible jewels.  It was a summer day that everyone wanted to see.

Then, when I could sneak a moment away from my students’ work, I noticed the sky had become dark and ominous.  Rain seemed imminent.  Rain seemed like it would take over.  I hear the students groan about not having umbrellas and noticed their scowls and pouts.

Things changed again when the sky took back its blue.  We were all left to wonder what had happened.  We were all relieved, but confused.  Several students consulted their smartphones–which seemed less than intelligent in that situation.

I smiled inwardly, recognizing that Today’s Perfect Moment had revealed itself to many, but found a mostly unappreciative audience.