Post-it Sunday- Tomorrow is gonna suck

There isn’t a post-it from today. Just a free-floating malaise and sense of doom that has been hanging over me since the general election.

The fact that it is the WORST time to be a hospital-based nurse with the 15 hip fractures this week alone, or the overfull emergency room, to the overfull hospital. But you’ve heard that from me before.

Two things have stood out to me in this general morass of gloom.

The first is that kindness still exists, even from the perceived other side. Last week, I was at Aldi to go grocery shopping. As I was walking in, I passed a woman who was just finishing unloading her cart. I held out my quarter and said, “Save you the trip?” She smiled, no, she beamed, and said take it. I tried to give her my quarter and she said no, just pass it on. And then she remarked that she couldn’t wait for the 20th. At my befuddled look, she added, you know when things can get back to normal.

It took me aback and I didn’t quite know what to say to her. I smiled, awkwardly, and said, with all the energy I could muster “I hope you get what you wanted.” I did not harangue, refuse the cart, or interrogate her as to why she felt that a day was gonna make all the difference in the world. I didn’t because I knew what kind of claptrap she was going to spew. The kind found on extreme right media or, worse, hate speech from Fox. Or the kind from the echo chamber she probably lives in. There is no changing her mind until she lives through the consequences of her action. Too bad she has to drag the rest of us down.

But I was nice. Through gently gritted teeth. I promised my dentist; that three broken teeth in the last six months is enough.

The second is that I am leaning into the little things that bring me joy. And I am leaning HARD.

I read a book in the last 24 hours that didn’t have anything to do with my dissertation and I started another one too.

I got up when the white whiskery wonder wanted me to, even if it was 0630.

The extra vehicle that I’ve been holding onto with clenched fists has been donated. I loved that car but it was time. The relief I felt after the flatbed picked it up. Well, after I cried a little I felt relief.

But the thing that has brought me the most joy this week?

A partial set of Corelle Lazy Daisy bowls and plates. This was a pattern that they released in conjunction with PYREX. I wasn’t looking for it, specifically, but it fell in my lap. 7 large plates, 6 salad plates, 3 saucers, and 5 bowls. For less than $20.

Yes, please.

For no other reason than it made me smile.

Of course, the Pollyanna Puke is attempting to pop her little misguided head up and reminds me that tomorrow starts the clock. Because the president-elect cannot run for office again.

This also makes me smile.