Yesterday my neighbor, J, and I went to CVS and stood in line for quite a while to get our flu shots. It is the first time I'd had one not in my doctor's office. Like all long lines, it is a challenge to me to interact with people and stir up some friendliness and fun. A very heavy, though short, woman was in line in front of me, holding onto a shopping cart. She had a clip board from the front desk which she was using to fill in the Medicare form. When I realized I was struggling to fill my form without something to rest it on, I asked her if she was through with hers. She was and handed it to me graciously, starting a conversation about her health, her daughter the nurse, The little lady announced she was 85 years old and a survivor of both breast and colon cancer. We began chatting and the people around us had no way to avoid hearing what we talked about.
After i had filled in my form I gave the clipboard to J who used it, then gave it back to me. I looked down the line, saw a man struggling as I had been and asked if he would like the board. He thanked me with a pleasant smile. who needed one. When I realized the shopping cart helped the lady in front of me but she really needed a chair, I flagged down a clerk and told her that there should be come chairs for some of the elderly in line, especially the lady in front of me. She immediately agreed and came back with a chair. Once again, I noticed people in the line looking at me with what seemed to me a bit of surprise.
I said, not too softly to J, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." This brought some more smiles from people nearby, though they tried to be tactful and not blatant. When the little lady decided to give up the chair, J asked for it as she is in great pain from standing too long, herself.
Shortly, the manager came and moved us all away from the prescription desk where we were making it difficult for people to get to the pharmacists. Now a display of books was beside me. One of them was titled: How to Deal with Impossible People
I laughed and told my friend I didn't need a book for that. It was easy, I just got them out of my life. There were a lot of How-To books and some religious ones. As I was feeling good and talking a running commentary to my friend, she and I seemed to be the only ones doing much talking and I realized I was being viewed as a source of entertainment. No one likes standing in a boring line just waiting...certainly not I, and apparently not lots of others. Shyness has never been a part of my nature and I didn't mind if other people listened to the conversation between J and me. We have known each other a long time. She was an only child and said she doesn't really like people and loved solitude. I told her I had never been alone for any length of time until my husband passed away many years after all the children had grown up and gone away. Even then, my front door was somewhat like the entrance to Grand Central Station. We chatted about the self-help books about how to be to our inane conversation, I can understand why we had so many direct looks from people though none seemed disapproving. It felt as comfortable. Happiness and relaxation seems to rub off on others who allow themselves to feel.
The forms filled out, Medicare card shown, then finally seated as the nurse told me my long white pony tail was really lovely, as i was removing layers to offer my bare left shoulder. I made my usual comment, "Thanks, I'm too cheap to go to a hairdresser so I usually where it in a bun when I want to look grown-up." By now people seemed more relaxed behind us and more open with their obvious attention to the dialogues my friend and I were having with each other and others around us.
The nurse was kind and wished us a happy, healthy year after the shot that hurt about as much as a mosquito bite might have, we left. I was so pleased at the number of smiles at us as we walked away. I thought to myself, "How easy it is to be happy about just being alive and, especially when realizing how much better off I am than so many people I see." I know that being relaxed and carrying a running dialogue of observations, jokes, and anecdotes made the time pass more quickly for us and the direct looks and smiles from the others in line was gratifying. We had made the time pass for others as well.
2 comments:
I loved this post, because I can picture it perfectly in my head :)
Thank you for that lovely description. I had a similar experience while waiting in a very long line at the post office. Not only did I and my friend feel better about the whole thing, but a whole lot of others seemed to benefit as well. Nice way to live, eh?
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