On Mother’s day-night I found myself sleeping on an air mattress in an upstairs bedroom, alone. I know what you are thinking, I must have gotten her a vacuum cleaner or taken her to McDonald’s to celebrate everything she does for our children. Some of you probably think I forgot the entire day completely. Well, you’d be wrong.
I remembered Mother’s Day. In fact, I got her a gift related to one of her current passions. That’s right ladies, I watched and listened to what my wife was doing and gave a gift based on my observations. I’m not one to keep score, but I’d say that is a win in my column, even if the tally marks are heavily skewed in her favor (if you ask her.)
So, how did I end up in solitary confinement? Covid-19. Yep, I’m a statistic, a shade of red ( I hope more Vermilion) in a pie chart. So I stowed away in a non-air-conditioned bonus room on an air mattress. Don’t let me mislead you, I had a full bathroom, a TV, and a computer, it was just hot. I would amble myself downstairs from time to time to raid the fridge or just see what was happening in the rest of the house.
I tried my best to stay away from my family but a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl don’t want to be told, “No, you can’t give daddy a hug, or drink after him.”
But as we all know, when it rains it pours, and so on the second day of my Covid journey the fever and body aches set in, and I wanted nothing more than a hot shower. The hot water heater had its own plans and unfortunately, it did not communicate to me that one of the heating elements was bad and would not be providing me with what I so desperately wanted. Two days later it was fixed and I was enjoying a nearly scalding shower while angels sang hallelujah and doves flew by. Okay, there were no doves, but for those two days, I was miserable. I’d walk by a faucet, turn it on, and hoped the hot water heater’s cruel joke was over; that it had found pity on me and would grant me a trickle of warmth. Maybe It was the fever, but I’ll admit I tried this almost as many times as I’d open the fridge thinking maybe I missed something from when I checked fifteen minutes earlier.
I spoke with others who had gotten Covid and each experience was different. I had a mild case. Low-grade fever, body aches, fatigue, and loss of smell and taste. It wasn’t the worst experience of my life but it is not something I’d want to go through again.
One thing I’ve learned is to never compare your bad day or experience with someone else’s bad day. Not long ago I had a friend ask about my day. I unwrapped the day’s events which culminated in the accidental shooting of a child by a neighbor, and how it was a difficult scene to work. I then reciprocated and asked about her day. She said, “Bad, but not as bad as yours.”
Just because my day involved some pretty horrible things shouldn’t diminish what she was going through. Her day was bad for her. Starving children in China or a raging pandemic doesn’t take the bad out of someone’s day. It can, however, give perspective to your life. Your car not starting is seemingly small when compared to the diagnosis of stage four cancer, but does not being diagnosed with a severe illness make your car not starting any less frustrating?
When someone says they had a bad day, listen. To let someone unpack the events of a bad day could be what they need to make it better.
What’s the worst day you’ve ever had? Did you try to share it with someone and did they listen or try to minimize it?
The Latent Man 