January 29, 2016
Hello, everyone! Another day in this big city! Sometimes big is not so great but I will get back to that a bit later. Today I changed my route to work, not because I was interested in expanding my knowledge about the city but because I was looking for a specific shop and I couldn’t find one where I went before work. From there, I chose to take a bus I’d never seen before – it said something with South on the sign, so I imagined that at least I’d go in the good direction. It was a good impulse. It is true that I went from one terminus point to another but I got to a subway station that helped me to get downtown. Now, I have to admit that I have often noticed how parents deal with their children on the bus. I probably made a note in my mind or a comment of sorts but it wasn’t something I’d dwell on. Today, though, I had two different sets in front of my eyes. There was the mother with the toddler in the stroll, browsing her cell phone and every time the toddler would protest or say something she would push something in the child’s mouth – a biscuit, I think, without taking her eyes off the phone. The child was bored and wanted attention but didn’t get any. On the other set of seats, there was another mother with a toddler. She had taken her daughter out of the stroller and put her on a seat next to her and given her a book. They were turning pages and discussing the book. Any question was answered – sometimes with an answer, other times with a question that would make the child think of an answer. At a moment in time, the mother’s phone rang. She took it out of her pocket, looked at it, turned it off and turned back to the child and continued the discussion. The child was happy and laughing all the time. Leaving aside the happiness or the grumpiness of the children, which one would grow to be a well-adjusted adult with a thirst of finding out things and solving problems? Which one would have a foot on the door of success? I wonder, because sometimes, there are surprises and not all of them too pleasant. That was just a small parenthesis in my mind. A question, if you want, I have asked myself several times. You have a chance to see all sorts of parents and nannies and so on. Let’s get back to what I said: big is not always good. A very big city sometimes has lots of disadvantages. I went shopping to the other end of the city into a shop with specific Romanian foods and I bought quite a lot. With much difficulty, handling the multitude of bags with frozen fingers I went to get the bus and go home. Surprise, surprise! The bus didn’t want to cooperate. It was quite dramatic for a while there: the wind was fierce with a serious bite and no bus in sight. After about thirty minutes, understanding that I wouldn’t be able to stand in that wind too much, I decided to return in front of the shop and call a cab as not even one taxi had passed by. To return there was necessary: no cab would come to a bus stop. So, I called and gave them the address. I explained in detail where I was and they assured me that in five or ten minutes tops, I would have a cab. I was told that I had to be exactly in front of the shop so the driver could see me. Well, I was in front of the shop in an empty huge parking lot. There was no other human being or any other kind of being in sight. No one was as crazy as I was to stay there in the open when the temperature had gone down so much and the wind had added to the chill. Of course, now that I’d called a cab, on the big street cabs started passing like crazy. Before my call, as I’ve already said, no taxi was in the street. I waited for about fifteen minutes and no cab appeared. By that time, the cold had seeped into my bones already. I felt like my skin was icy and it started feeling quite strange – and I am not talking about the skin on my face that was exposed to the wind but the skin that was covered by a few layers of clothing. I called the cab company again and explained to them, in a clipped voice, I must admit, that I had been freezing in a parking lot for over fifteen minutes and the taxi they had promised never appeared. The dispatcher informed me that the taxi had been there but couldn’t see me. Now, I understand the problem. It is hard to see one person with lots of bags lying on the ground at their feet (I had already ditched them as I had no feeling in my fingers anymore – even to dial the number for the taxi company was a real hassle). It is much more difficult than normal when the said person is completely alone in a big parking lot. The space there is completely open – which helped the wind to do its job much easier. Besides all that, come on, I am not a very small person. You can overlook me only if you want to not because you cannot see me. I explained all that to the dispatcher – not rudely but very matter-of-fact. She apologized and said that in maximum five minutes I would have a taxi right there. After ten minutes, I had to call again. Of course, no cab had come. This time, however, when I told them that in a few more minutes the taxi driver wouldn’t have a passenger anymore because I would turn into an ice statute, they assured me that the car would be there any second. And this time, the cab came. At first the driver simply looked at me as I was trying to gather my bags with uncooperative fingers. Annoyed probably because he was wasting precious time, after a few minutes he got out of the car to help. I was so angry that I couldn’t even try to smile to him, not that I could have. I am not sure my lips would have moved to form a smile. Anyway, it turned out that the man was not really aware of the area. After a while, he asked me where we were and if I thought my house was close. I understood him. I didn’t know where he was driving either. The important thing is that in the end we did manage to get to the destination. As result to this beautiful adventure in the wild, I spent an hour shivering, trying to get some work done and then I lied under the comforter for about two hours to bring some warmth inside my body. I can’t say I really managed to do it but I started developing a bit of fever. If that doesn’t warm me, nothing would. Anyway, I will finish my post now and go back under the comforter. I have guests tomorrow and I have to be healthy at least. See you tomorrow!
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ROXANA NASTASEBorn sometime in the past century, living in the 21st century. https://www.ebookstage.com/welcome/NTYyNzY=/
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