Life in Ordinary Time

Today at lunch I decided I really needed to go shopping. For clothes. I haven't done this for a little while. Long enough to have paid off my favorite retail charge account.

On my way out of the building, I stopped in the rest room. On my way out of the stall, I saw a stranger standing at the sink. She stared at me, and I tried not to give her an evil look which is what I wanted to do. Instead I smiled. And then I realized she was my first boss at the hospital! She quit in 1998. She basically disappeared in 2003 or so. We hugged, we talked. After a few minutes, I asked her to please come to my office so we could sit down instead of talking in the bathroom. We talked some more. She was there applying for an entry level job. She doesn't need much more - her husband is very successful. When she left the hospital, she let her credential expire, she lost all desire to ever work in our field again. She still has no desire to work in any kind of management position.

It was so good to see her. It was so nice to catch up with her. It is also weird to see the wrinkles on her face and realize she was seeing mine. It is OK. This is surely what it is like to age. Thank God there are still peers left.

And then - I went shopping! I tried not to buy clothes for the International, but it just wouldn't be my nature to go without new clothes. So, I went shopping. When I got home, I realized that I already have a khaki skirt - just like the one I bought - so that is going back tomorrow. I am at a total loss for what kind of clothes you wear in that kind of heat. I can know intellectually that I need cotton, light-colored, light weight clothes, but you can bet I will pack some sweaters, and black pants, etc. I always do.

Okay, this is beyond boring. But it is just what my ordinary life is like today. Ordinary.