Escape

"We stand, as it were, on the shore, and see multitudes of our fellow beings struggling in the water, stretching forth their arms, sinking, drowning, and we are powerless to assist them."
~Felix Adler

I had planned to leave work for a while in the middle of the day to get my haircut. My stylist decided to change her schedule and they called me a month ago to ask me to change my appointment. I forgot about it until I got another call Tuesday reminding me of my appointment. So I'm on the road to the stylist today when the salon calls me again, trying to reschedule.

I was annoyed with this you have an appointment, you don't have an appointment stuff and expressed that to the receptionist who called. Her response was to tell me that she could ask my stylist if she would stay late so I could come in and get my hair cut. My response: It's just a HAIRCUT...

Juxtapose that with the next phone call I received: one of those calls you never want to get - a relative was in the hospital with internal bleeding and they were going to call in hospice. My parents called me at work to tell me what was going on and that they were flying down to see her (she's 95 and lives in Florida). I asked and was told not to come yet. I'm not close to this particular person but my father is, so my going would have been more for him than her.

Obviously I found it difficult to focus at work after that. I left early and went home. I ordered in food and opened a bottle of champagne I had in the fridge (not to celebrate or anything, just to drink). Then I stared at the TV and tried to forget about my life for a while. I needed an escape.

Not the best day I ever had, but it certainly reinforced with crystal clarity what the important things are in this life.