So You Had a Bad Day?

It was just one of those days indeed. I got very ticked off, was almost killed, was injured by someone, I just about quit my job and felt embarrassed!  In that order.

That difficult and weird day (two years ago) has really stuck in my memory. I think it had more of an impact because I also discovered humor and hope for the future. Unexpected but profound.  It's often life's little surprises that pack the biggest punches, don'tcha think?

The bad day occurred in the middle of a terrible year. The more I get to know people, and learn of their life experiences, I realize I am not alone. Most folks have been through multiple stressful events in a short time period.  It just happens. Suffice it to say that this can make one just a bit edgy, among other things.

It started when I read an email that made me very angry! Not a good idea first thing in the morning. Arrogant! That's the word to describe the person who wrote it. I don't know if I replied then or not. I just remember letting the words replay in my head and bother me way too much.

While I was en route to work, a woman came flying through her red light. I saw her when I was in the middle of the intersection, and she saw me. We both slammed on our brakes. We sat there staring at each other, wide-eyed. That kind of adrenaline rush helps wake you up at 6:30 a.m.!  A few blocks down the road, my heart and mind slowed down enough to say "Thank you, thank you God! We both are unharmed! Thank you!"

I still felt a little shaky when I arrived at my job, where I worked hands-on with developmentally disabled residents.  A couple of times that morning, one man was particularly combative with me.  (Oh please, not today!)  He left marks on my arm.  A while later, another resident was trying to injure himself. I was doing my best to remember all my intervention skills. Nothing seemed to help. He just became more agitated. Unfortunately, so did I.

I finally asked someone else to take over.  Then I told my boss I just couldn't handle it, and said "I'm taking a break.", and out the back door I went.  I promptly fell apart for a few minutes.  My manager then gave me a pep talk. I came back in and ate my spaghetti. Good spaghetti and garlic bread can help most situations, you know!

The rest of my afternoon was very busy, as always.  When my work day ended at three, I stopped by the restroom. While washing up... "What's that on my face?!"
A line of spaghetti sauce, from the corner of my mouth, almost to my ear lobe. Yep. It had been there for three hours and no one had told me!  I just stood at the mirror and laughed. And cried.

It hit me.  I could still laugh. I could find humor in dumb things, like I always had. More than that, I was not only alive, but uninjured, after the very close call that morning.

I'd been up close and personal with lots of death and destruction that year.  But not that day.  My bad day started looking like a good day at that point.  It was one of my life epiphanies! But I still say that lunch left on your face for three hours, and not knowing it, is a little humiliating. Funny, but humiliating.