For those of you just joining the series, back in 2008 my friend Diana and I celebrated our retirements by taking a 65 day road trip. The plan was to take secondary roads only from Michigan to Florida and back. It didn't take long to realize there were three personalities in the car! There was Diana, myself, and Gertie GPS!
We had finally crossed over from Georgia to Florida! At a rest stop we traded tennis shoes for flip flops and enjpyed strolling around the rest stop in the 78 degree weather!
Back on the road we made Ocala around 4 p.m. Normally we wouldn't drive for such long periods of time- but twice Gertie GPS decided we should look at some country lanes that ended in dead ends! Diana used language I didn't know she knew! Gertie would chant her directions which would have put us in the middle of a cow enclosure while Diana called her "special" names! I found this all amusing!But by 4 p.m. I was road weary and my tailbone ached from sitting so long. My humor was turning to grouchiness!
We stopped at a restaurant before checking into our hotel. Unfortunately we got there in the middle of a shift change- so had to wait quite a while for our food! We were actually getting ready to give up and leave when our food arrived. The food was okay- nothing wrong with it. But I found myself tired and a bit out of sorts for having to wait so long!
It wasn't until I was back in the car that a conversation I overheard between a waitress and some customers behind us played in my mind. They seemed to know her! After they asked her how she was she told this story!
" It's been a really rough week! This week we lost our Jeep! My husband was driving our Jeep on the expressway when he spotted smoke coming from the engine! He normally would've felt the heat on his legs, but with the Chemotherapy has made his legs a bit numb! Anyway, he pulled off on the side of the road the car burst into flames! The car is totally gone! Thank goodness my brother was near by and came to pick him up! He also loaned us a car to use for a bit! We had just gotten our tax return, so went to the bank. But at first they wouldn't cash it since there hasn't been any activity on the account for three months! We really needed that money! It was a mess for a while but everything's now straightened out with the bank. You know-things could've been much worse! We're really lucky!"
Thinking about the waitress, I felt embarrassed at my inner grumblings over something as trivial as waiting for food! As I've advised my airline passengers in the past- "There's a big difference between Inconvenience and a Tragedy!" I needed to be careful to practice what I preach and count my many blessings!
Until Next time, Dear Readers!
In Life's many Adventures, It's Important To Know The Difference Between A Tragedy And An Inconvenience!
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