Silver Linings

Yesterday was an interesting day. After our second house party here at Casa Andacollo, I was one of the first ones up, surveying the damage from the night’s festivities. Upon first inspection, everything seemed to be peachy keen. A more scrutinizing review, though, revealed a number of maladies that had befallen us at the hands of our supposed “friends.” For one, Heloísa’s iPod was stolen out of her locked bedroom. Also, even though the party was supposed to be relegated to the first floor only, apparently some people translated that “rule” about as loosely as the Patriot Act translates the Constitution because our wireless transmitter for the internet, which was on the third floor, was also among the departed. Seems pretty weird that you would come to a party, surreptitiously climb the stairs to the third floor, and walk by two Tvs and a DVD player in order to steal a cable modem, but then, I guess it’s best not to question the logic of thieves… I am willing to bet that whomever took our antenna is laughing it up right now with a guy wearing all my clothes from before Sophomore year while sharing a five-pound bag of Craisins courtesy of Jamie Felton.

Needless to say, the fact that we paid money to entertain our friends and were repayed by having them steal from us was cause enough to be pretty miffed at humanity on the whole. Rather than dwell too much on our losses, I decided to grab some food at a little café up the street called Hemingways. I sat outside on the patio by myself for a while enjoying the sweet familiar smell of the smoke emanating from a pipe of an older gentleman sitting nearby, reading quotes from Hemingway about the pleasantries of civilized culture, and just generally basking in the glory of a beautiful sunny day. Nayara and Heloísa joined me after about 20 minutes, and thereafter, Nayara did her best to shatter my tranquility with complaints about the light from the sun, the smell of the pipe, her headache, the service, and I think she might have mentioned how she wanted to kick a puppy… Thankfully, all spaniels were spared, as the streets were full of nothing but Sunday emptiness. Here is a picture of Nayara and me, before alcohol apparently ruined her life.

Well, as we were walking back to the house, we heard the neck-hair raising screech of tires skidding on the pavement, only to turn to the source of the noise just in time to see a man of about 70 get hit by a car. Read that again. I am not joking. It was awful. I’m not sure why the car didn’t see the man, or why the man was in the street (it was not a cross-walk or anything), but in about 1 second I saw the moment of impact, the man’s body contort itself in all sorts of unnatural ways, and then him lying face-down on the pavement. I ran across the street to help him, but there were already about 15 other people huddled around him, mopping up the blood from his head and nose, and propping his head up under pillows of sweatshirts and purses. Others were on their cell phones calling the paramedics. Rather than simply standing and gawking, I decided to run to the nearest police station, which was about two blocks away. Of course, being that it was Sunday, the police office was closed, and no one was there (I am pretty sure it is just an administrative office). At a loss for how else I could contribute, and not wanting to be just another onlooker exploiting this man’s pain to quench own personal morbid curiosity, I decided to simply return to the house, shocked and writhing from what I had just seen.

Tangential random thought – I have decided that any job in the medical profession automatically trumps any other job with even remotely similar compensation simply by way of the latent ability to help those in need that you carry around with you wherever you go. After all, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone yell in distress: “Someone, please help! It’s an emergency! Is anyone here an investment banker?!”

After a quick break to gather myself, I decided to walk to the store to buy a new router for the internet. On my way back, I stopped by one of the other TIPS’ apartments to pick up a bag that I had left with him a couple days prior, before we all went out together after class. In no hurry to get back and do nothing, I decided to stay with my friend and do nothing. The two of us talked for a pretty long time, just about the craziness that is life. He sort of reluctantly gave me a brief history of some of the things going on in his life, which in general offered me a tremendous amount of perspective on life, love, and responsibility (and forgive me for using such ambiguous platitudes).

It wasn’t until the long walk home about an hour after the sun set that I really started to reflect on the days’ events. The funny thing is, though, while there seemed to be so much negative material on which to focus, I just couldn’t stop thinking about how blessed I am.

That in mind, I’m going to do a little exercise that I will call count your blessings:

If you have ever been to or thrown a party, that means you (1) have friends that you care about and (2) have friends that care about you. It also means that (3) you have a place to go to spend time recreationally.

If you got out of bed this morning, (4) you have a bed to sleep in, and that probably also means (5) you also have a home where you can stay.

If you’ve ever had anything stolen, that means that (6) you have things that are desirable to others, and more than likely, (7) you can afford to have them replaced.

If you have ever been to a restaurant, (8) you have had the option on what to eat, (9) where to eat it, and (10) when you want to eat. It also means, (11) you have the money to pay for it.

If you have to look both ways to cross the street, that means that (12) you are able to see, and (13) you live in a community with roads and some means of transportation

If you have ever walked to the store and back to buy something (14) you are able to walk, (15) you have money with which to purchase goods or services, and (16) you made it back safely.

And if you are reading this, (17) you have been educated on how to read and write, (18) you have a computer with internet, (19) you have enough free time to read my verbose ramblings, and (20) you probably know me, which let’s face it, is a blessing among blessings :o).

All joking aside, I hope you take this day and every day to realize how wonderful life is, even when it doesn’t seem all that terrific. Go out and be happy, and hopefully we can all make the sun shine a little brighter, the trees seem a little bit greener, and sky feel a little bit bluer today.