It Was One of Those Days

Hey all!

Yesterday was one of those days. You know the kind I mean: one of those when stupid things happen that you just can't help but laugh at.

One little incident (I call it little, but I'm sure I won't ever live it down - if you know my family, you know what I mean), however, made me grin for reasons other than the actual incident (which really was funny in hindsight). What made me smile was the thought of how only someone living in a very rural area would have an experience like this.

Before I start on the story, here's a little backstory on the area I live in: Lewis County, NY, is in northern NY - much, much closer to Canada than to New York City. We are a county of a little more than 26,000 people. We're outnumbered by bovines: if you count cows, bulls, and calves, there are over 51,000. We even have an oversized, sometimes snazzily dressed cow (Lady LeWinDa MilkZalot).

I work in the county seat, Lowville, which is also the largest village in the county. If I counted right, the village has six stop lights - all on one street. Yes, we're very rural, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So on to my story. In my office, I hang my jacket on a doorknob behind my desk. This doorknob is also in the vicinity of the office paper shredder. Yesterday, as I was shredding some papers, I must have knocked into my jacket. The pretty brown scarf I wear with my jacket found its way into the teeth of the shredder. It only went in a couple of inches before the machine stalled. I turned the shredder off and tugged and pulled, but it wasn't letting go. I finally got smart and reversed the shredder, freeing my scarf. Of course, that also freed lots of bits of scarf that billowed all over.

Looking back on it, it was pretty funny, really. And one of those stupid things that happen.

I picked the little brown fibers off my cream wool coat, left the scarf at the office, and drove to the county hospital where I was scheduled for my yearly mammography. Now this is where being in a rural area comes in. Lewis County General Hospital is the only hospital in the county. Even so, it's not very big, but it is a good institution and I'm grateful we have it. Just after I signed into the diagnostic imaging lab, I heard someone calling my name. My mom was pushing Grandma in a wheelchair, taking her to the cafeteria, and just happened to see me. I told them my tale of scarfy-woe, got a chuckle out of them, and then we went on our seperate ways.

Within fifteen minutes, my test was done so I decided to run down to the cafeteria to say hi and goodbye to Mom and Grandma (Grandma lives at the hospital in the nursing home). On my way down the hall, I run into my sister, Kelly, coming from the cafeteria. She says, "Hey, Aim, where's your scarf?"

Of course, she'd already talked to Mom and Grandma. I walked into the tiny cafeteria, found my people immediately and sat down for a few minutes.

But that's what made me smile. For all of you who've spent time in larger hospitals, you know how impossible it would be to run into all these family members - you'd never see each other, I'm sure. And the cafeteria: in a larger hospital, it probably would have taken me forever to find the ladies, if I even did. Some have multiple large cafeterias - I'd be lost (again, if you know me, you'd not be surprised at my getting lost).

Like I said, I love living in a small area - my chances of running into people I know and love are so much higher. LOL!

Oh, and just before I left the cafeteria, Grandma says, "You have something on your coat, dear."

Yeah, Grandma, I know - it's part of my scarf....