I've Been Thinking. . .

I know I write a lot about my bus rides, but there are times when things that happen to me there get me to thinking.  Like, about random acts of kindness.

Until this week, I rode the Santa Monica red bus into, you guessed it, Santa Monica and back, three days a week.  It's a long schlep, but it's a simple straight line, point A to point B situation and I'd rather not drive.  But this bus is usually crowded in the morning, as it passes through several cities to get to its destination.

My feet have been hurting me lately, as I've noted several times before.  So standing is kinda hard for me, but what choice do I have?  Well, one morning last week, a seat opened up and a woman, Hispanic, non-English speaker, tapped me to let me know.  I was grateful, but I couldn't get to the seat because the bus was still moving and there was another passenger in my way.

Well, the woman grabbed my carry on bag and put it on the seat to save it for me.  A complete stranger went out of her way to get me the seat.  I was overwhelmed.  I couldn't express it in Spanish, but I gave her the biggest smile and nodded my head in appreciation.

It got me to thinking.  One mitzvah a day.  One kind deed a day.  It can't be that hard.  So I've embarked on this crusade to do one nice thing for someone each and every day.  Yesterday, I gave my day parking pass to a woman waiting in line to buy one (at CSULA, $6 gives you a pass until midnight).  I got there at 8:30 am and left at 3 pm.  I told the woman she would have to leave by midnight, which she assured me she would.

I won't force the issue.  I'll let situations play out and let kindness take the lead.  I figure, it's good practice.

Nearly There

My project is done, with only one signature, the department chair, standing between me and my Master's degree.  The culmination of 5 long years of study is almost upon me, and all I can think about is, what next?

I've been a student for 5 years.  I've been studying, writing papers, reading textbooks.  Time to adapt.  Time to find something else, like a full-time job.

I almost feel like I have to rewire my brain.

The Agony of My Feet

I can't seem to make a decision about how I feel.  About my feet, that is.  When I first started feeling pain, I thought I had a brain tumor.  That's how it works.  Something hurts, it must be life-threatening.  So I called my friend who actually did have a brain tumor (which was benign, thank G-d), and told her about my problems.

Turned out it has the same thing I do, which, I learned, was not connected to her brain tumor.  She told me to get Sketchers Shape Up sneakers.  That's it.  No discussion.  They work.

Well, Sketchers was being sued, were sued, and my doctor said no.  My general practitioner, that is.  The foot doctor I went to, what a waste.  He told me to buy some foot pads and that was it.  No relief, no nothing.

Guess what I did?  I bought the Sketchers.  And here's where I can't make up my mind.  Yes, I'm walking normal again, not limping around and throwing my back out of alignment. But my food still hurts.  So while I want to believe that I found the answer, I can't bring myself to say that Sketchers have made me better.  They made me better than before, but not better like before I had pain.  Not like my friend who feels wonderful in her Sketchers.  I just feel a lot better.

No doubt, I make no sense.  What do you expect?  I'm graduating, finishing my internship, and facing the prospect of getting a job in a town where "Spanish speaker preferred" is code for if you don't speak Spanish you are not getting hired.

From the frying pan into the fire.

Making Every Minute Count

I wrote my thesis/project and turned it in several weeks back.  I got the edits just before Shavuot.  My adviser told me I could finish those edits in about an hour, so I didn't really take it seriously.  I set aside Sunday, yesterday, for the day to do the edits, thinking it would take just a few hours and then the day was mine.

I began the process of revising my project at 9 am.  By the time I was done, which means, I couldn't focus my eyes anymore, it was 10:30 pm.  What went wrong?

The edits to the body of the text wasn't a problem, it was getting the attachments in place.  I had created documents using text boxes, and they were separate from the main body of the text.  So putting it all together turned out to be a nightmare.

Luckily for me, my husband came to the rescue and told me about scanning documents, primarily pdfs, as photos with our home scanner.  The very scanner we've had for 3 years and I had no clue it could scan anything as a photo.  It turned out to be a lifesaver.  It meant being finished at 10:30 pm versus sometime this morning.

So what did I learn?  Don't wait until Sunday to do things.  I had the whole week, and I could have been working on the problems the whole week.  Or got Kinko's to do it, whatever.  Never wait to the crunch.

Sigh.  Almost there.

Another Interesting Lesson

It became quite clear to me the other day that people really don't know much about each other.  A case in point.

I was standing by the elevator in the basement of the hospital where I work.  A male worker, a black man, was also going upstairs and he introduced himself to me, saying he had seen me around and wondered what I was doing.  I told him my name and my job - intern.  He asked me if I was called "Sister," in reference to the Catholic hospital we found ourselves in.

Oh no, I assured him.  I'm on the other team.  To my surprise, he asked if I was a Christian.  I was totally confused.  No, I told him.  I'm a Jew.  A Jew, he replied - you don' t look Jewish.

Well, I do look Jewish, and why would the "other team" be Christians?  I figured out from this that Catholics and Christians are not the same, even though I always thought they were.  More like similar than the same.  But what a surprise to me that I was clueless about all the schisms within the Church.

I just thought it was us Jews who didn't get along.  Now I know it's everybody.  How reassuring!

Shared Pain

Some days I can't seem to get focused on one goal, and when that happens, I'll run errands.  Like yesterday.  After one errand, I decided to drop by the bakery and pick up a loaf of whole wheat, multi grain bread.  That stuff is really good.

The Sketchers sneakers I bought to combat my feet problems get a lot of attention.  Case in point: the woman behind the bakery counter.  She asked about them, and then the next think I know, I've got my shoe off and I'm showing her my insert and telling her where I got them and what shoes she should buy.  It was like instant comrades - sisters in shared pain.

Kinda like when a group of women who have experienced childbirth get together and the next thing you know, you're comparing labor stories.  It creates that village feeling - like we're all one group of people living shared lives and experiences.  We're all not so different from each other.

Especially when it comes to pain.

Ruby Slippers

It's unbelievable what a little pain will do.  Stupid me, I put my new shoe inserts into old (size) shoes and went to work.  By 2 pm, my feet were in so much pain from the tight shoes that I could barely stand, let alone walk.  So, stuck at work until 5 pm, taking the bus home, all I could do was pray that I had a seat for the whole journey.

When I got home, I felt like a cripple.  I took off my shoes, limped around the house, ate dinner, and then took the kids to the library.  I dropped them off at home and went on to the shoe discount warehouse for what I considered a marathon shoe selection process.

When I got there, I fell upon the first saleswoman I saw and begged her for help.  I told her I needed orthopedic shoes, and that I was in pain.  She took me right away to the one row that has something of that sort - and helped me try on several pairs until being called elsewhere.

I sat down and thought about what just happened.  This young girl basically took me by the hand and helped me.  No commission, no job promotion.  The concept of a warehouse is that you're on your own.  She did more than her job, and with such kindness and consideration.  I found a pair of shoes after she was gone, but it was through her help in what to look for.

A second saleswoman took over and found me another pair.  I just couldn't believe how sweet they both were.  They cared.  When I checked out, I told the counter women that I was amazed at how wonderful and caring the staff is.  She told me it was nice to hear it.

Look for the good, friends.  It's all that matters.