Thanksgiving Comes Early

You all know that this blog is meant to be a fun place, but in light of recent events, I thought I'd post something a bit more thoughtful this morning.


Yesterday...

I walked over to the mini-fridge we have in our office kitchen area and grabbed another bottled water, cracked it open, and enjoyed the cold water on my tongue.

I suddenly remembered that there are people just a few hundred miles from where I live who have have to boil their water before they can drink it. I finally got through to one of my friends in Louisiana this morning. He was excited because he had found someplace that was selling ice.

I became a little more thankful for that bottle of water.

Yesterday...

I used the fancy company washroom we have on our floor. It's stocked with scented soaps and hand lotions. Mouthwash, too. You dry your hands with a little white freshly-laundered hand towel. Someone comes in every couple of hours to make sure everything is clean and the facilities are working properly.

As I was washing my hands, I was suddenly transported to the New Orleans SuperDome, where the plumbing is no longer working and human waste litters the halls. The filthy floodwaters in New Orleans are mixing with raw sewage and seeping into the myriads of above-ground graves that populate the hills around the city. It's a good time to be a rat in the Big Easy.

I became a little more thankful for the plumbing in our office.

Yesterday...

I left my apartment at 8:30am and didn't get home until 11:00pm. On the way home from rehearsal at 10:45pm I got stuck in traffic. I was tired and irritable and my iPod's battery was running low. I knew Nelson was going to start that annoying yowling for his dinner the second he heard me coming up the steps to the apartment. I probably wouldn't fall asleep until after midnight and I'd have to be up at 7:30 the next morning to get to work on time.

Then it occurred to me that at least I have a home to go home to. Yesterday I received emails from two of my high school friends who fled New Orleans. They've lost everything.

I was suddenly thankful for my little overpriced apartment, Nelson's whining, and alarm clocks that go off at 7:30am.

Boring old Everycity, USA is in for another hot one. Today I'll get my bi-weekly paycheck. I'll probably go to dinner at a nice restaurant sometime this weekend. I'll go to the grocery store to pick up some more bananas and maybe some fresh strawberries. I'll turn both fans on in my apartment to hopefully save a little on the A/C bill this month. The biggest thing I'm worried about is getting off-book for this play I'm in.

Meanwhile, not too far away...

Well, you know.

Thanksgiving comes early this year, folks.