Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Pawing Feebly In the General Direction of the Dark

Last night I had support group.
Actually, I met two sisters at the mall food court - we laughed, we cried, we ate, we counselled. Its cheaper than a real therapist, plus one can scoot over to Wal-Mart on the way out for milk and granola bars, fabric for Arianna's home ec, and a couple of bags of candy for my mindful eating program.
I talked my sisters out of a pricier Italian restaurant in favour of the food court since what I really wanted to do was watch people. I know I have stooped to a new low when I make a point of finding people who clearly are much worse off than me. And that's where I spawned my highly cynical, super sarcastic list of gratitudes:

My breasts are saggy, but comfortably within the "c" range. If I had to haul around pendulous appendages in the double "z" zone, optimism would seem a lofty goal. So would the hopes of my back ever feeling aligned.

I'm not exactly a trend-setter, but at least I've glanced around since 1981, and I don't sport a MULLET!! Maybe, I'm just not self-confident enough. Either way, I'm good with it.

My husband does not think of track pants as formal wear. Or casual wear. Or as something that goes with a mullet.

I was genuinely, un-sarcastically touched and encouraged by the food court cleaning ladies. They weren't pretty, or well-dressed, and I'm sure they worked very hard for very little financial return. The one lady was decidedly warty. Still, she came by our table (we stayed for hours, there didn't seem to be a "no loitering" by-law... ) and with the most pleasant smile and graciousness that would lend itself well to a better paying establishment, offered to clear our trays for us.

She didn't have to do that.
She could have been a grouch, and to be honest, I would have expected that from her. Whether she had decided to or not, this lady was doing the ordinary in extraordinary ways.

And that, folks, is some of what I learned at the food court yesterday.
Stay tuned. By late this afternoon, or tomorrow, I may be simply be reduced to reminiscing about the days when I kicked at the darkness. Kicking right now sounds way too closely related to another thing I suck at : consistent exercise.

6 comments:

esther said...

sounds like a great support group!!

Linda said...

Sounds like fun. I have 2 sisters and I'm sure we'd have fun together if we did that. By the way, sometimes I leave a loonie or toonie on the table, even at the food court.

Cherrypie said...

I've got the ideal thing to motivate your kicking. I've tagged you. Ignore it if you want, I won't be offended. You might enjoy it though x

Roo said...

AHHHHHH JOYCE you are my cousins long lost capenray friend! AH!
that is sooo cool. she said you guys were on the same bunk beds. michelle friesen. isn't that FUNNY?

it's a small world.......afterall.

;)

ps i also love food courts and watching people. but i don't do that so much now that i WATCH my bebe. :) she's fun to watch too though.

Anonymous said...

I laugh each time I read the title of this one. Then again at the content.

Heather Plett said...

Even those of us in the double "z" zone (no kidding - I had to buy nursing bras that included the first letter of my name!!!) can find the odd reason to be grateful. :-)