Summertime not blues 2022 : Small details

 People dont realize maybe that really what makes up most of life are the small details.  I have mentioned it before.  In the day you might have 15 minutes of high adrenaline activity, but the bulk of the day is made up of minimal things.  Really nothing wrong with that.  I think it is true of 99.9 per cent of the people in the world.  Maybe. 

Likewise, when trying to feel good about life and feel good about yourself, dont overlook the small victories you make daily.  For some people this might even entail getting out of bed.  (An aside, depression and anxiety are two of the biggest "diseases" in the US.  And with the covid virus anxiety and depression have gone up even more.. I forget if I saw the statistic 9 per cent or 39 per cent).  

It is not a matter of winning the lottery or buying a house or car,  it is a matter of doing something correct for the first time. Something you were afraid to do or had doubts that you could do it.  Dont laugh.  For some people, once they have done these things many times, they are old hat.  But there is always the first time which may be scary or nerve racking.  Just like the first day of school was.  

This wasnt the first time we had to go to the new laundry place.  The other one closed down, the one we were used to and had experience with.  It closed over Covid.  So we have to go to a new one to get our clothes done.  We went here last year, but I still didnt have the details worked out.  All the small details can also drag you down.  Do you use quarters or credit card?  Soap? Quarters for soap.  Rats, I didnt bring enough quarters. The same happened last year.  But anyway this year I didnt want to spend my quarters anymore.  This time I was going to use a credit card.  In the laundry store??  I would never have done that in other years.  

So the machine wasnt working.  Rats what went wrong.  My daughter said it didnt accept my credit card. I should do the whole thing over again.  I tried again.  Still didnt work. No business attendant working today.  No one to ask what went wrong.  So, I gathered up my strength and asked a fellow lady patron who looked like she had experience with these machines.  Normally I shy away from asking people for help. My mother always did. My father didnt like to. I guess I take after my Father.  That was why it was difficult to ask this other lady for help.  But I did.  She grabbed the handle, opened it, and closed it real forcefully with a bang.  Bam.  Water goes in, it started.   Oh   celebration.  thank you thank you. My daughter kept me from being too overly excited, but boy was I thankful.  

Then the drying.  That wasnt too complicated. But you can never tell if the door is closed properly.  I thought it took two drying cycles, but it was three. Remember that next year.  Also remember to use the smaller washing machines.  They are cheaper and we dont need the big ones. We dont have that much stuff.  You are laughing. Thats ok.  It all worked out and I was happy.  A victory for Daddy by himself. 

Tom Cruise might not be afraid to climb 100 story skyscrapers in Mission Impossible, but has he ever done his laundry himself in a laundry shop?  Probably not.  Someone would do that for him.  He wouldnt know what to do either.  "What type of soap should I get?  Will the washer also dry?" etc.  "Why isnt this frigging machine working?  Gosh darnit (kicking it), work, you stupid... work (banging it). "   

When we were there, I saw a guy doing laundry with a

shirt that said "crew" on it.  I had a pretty good idea that he was the tour manager or helper for a travelling group and one duty was keeping the groups clothes clean.  Maybe it was Tom Cruise who was travelling and the guy was doing it for a local movie shooting crew.  He knew what to do.  Tom Cruise wouldnt know what to do.  Maybe.  Then again maybe this guy was just wearing this name brand t shirt and I mistook him for "crew".  Maybe also.  

The first time I took a bus as a kid from the suburbs, to the city I thought I was pretty good. I had figured it out.  Other people on the bus were bored. They took the bus every day.  But I didnt know what to do, how much to pay, maybe where to get off, where to sit. I was awkward and nervous.  And who was on the bus?  Now, I take public transportation every day and I know everything.  But back then as a teen ager... it was a scary accomplishment.  

These are the little things that we can cheer ourselves on with. Yeah we did it. We figured it out. Or, maybe not this time, but next time will be better and I will be smarter.  This accomplishment, I think both my daughters and myself felt this accomplishment.  Well, maybe my younger daughter not as much.  She kind of takes things in stride.  But it was a small victory of sorts for all of us. Collectively we figured it out.  

That was worth a summertime cheers.  As Daddy I think I may have been even happier than my kids, because there is this stereotype that parents are expected to know everything and show their kids how to do it.  And well, the truth of the matter is, we dont know everything and we get it wrong. But we cant let on to our kids that some of these small things... we dont know how to do them just like they dont.  But shhhh, (whisper) we cant let the kids know we dont know what we are doing.  

The vacation, was so wonderful.  More stories along these lines coming up.  

I listened to this while writing.  They are on tour in the Fall. I hope to see them.  I had this record, but sold it.  I have a couple other titles still.  This one from 2019