7 Things Link-Up #14

Skipit is stylin', and I am so sick.

Seven Questions with Gentri Lee is BACK!  Did you miss it?  I know I did!

1. What do you do when you're sick?

I am the babiest of babies when I'm sick.  I'm such a baby when I'm sick, I'm practically a fetus!  Refer back to Melodramatic Chicken.  Every symptom is the beginning of something life-threatening:  my mild headache is a brain tumor, for instance.  And I behave thusly:  saying my final goodbyes, willing away my earthly possessions, and even pulling the "You'll be sorry..." if I have to.  "Eli, you'll be sorry if I die and you didn't bring me soup in my final hours!"  I'm horrible.  And now you know.

2. What do you do to find motivation when you feel you've lost it?

Let me know!  Honestly, when I've run out of ideas for blogging, I watch TV.  My last post was loosely inspired by a marathon of Drop Dead Diva.  I'm pretty sure that makes me a horrible person.  Of course, link-ups are always fabulous for inspiration!  And I'm sooo glad Gentri Lee has brought back the Seven Questions.  I'm not even being a suck-up here, it's one of the best link-up out there!

3. Do you wish time away or do you savor every moment?

I think obviously, that depends on where I am.  I love my job, but when I'm getting tired or hungry, I do wish the time away.  When I'm waiting for a train, and the platform is hot and steamy and smelly, I wish the time away.  But when the morning is all to myself, I want time to slow down.  The days I get to share with Eli, I wish I could slow down and rewind to play over and over.  And vacations!

4. If you could be any mythological creature, what would you be, and why?

I would totally be a Greek goddess.  Those stories are all so interesting and crazy!  Not to mention the whole "immortality" thing.  That would be wicked sweet!

5. What is your current biggest weakness and are you working on fixing it?

I'm sooo mean.  See above, "You'll be sorry...".  I think horrible mean thoughts all the time, even when completely unprovoked.  And then those thoughts pop like bubbles in my mind and leave the inside of my mind and soul covered in sticky, soapy negativity.  I want to share a story that's been looming heavy on my heart for a while:

About a week ago, I was on the subway going home from work late at night.  I had a long, hard day, and my mind was in an angry, judgmental place.  Scanning the car, I thought evil thoughts about everyone I saw:  "Who brings a baby on the subway at 11:00pm besides a neglectful parent?"  "Someone's terrible music is louder than it really ought to be."  "Whoever told her she could wear her underwear as pants should be sued."  See?  I'm so mean.

In the corner was a girl with earphones in, asleep.  She was making a weird face in her sleep, like she was expressing disgust at her subconscious.  "What an ugly sleeper she is,"  I thought to myself.  "She must have an equally ugly awake-face."

A few minutes later, that sleeping girl woke with a start.  She flung her arms wide open, hitting the woman next to her in her seat.  She gasped, then began to shake.  At once, she drew her arms to her chest in fists, stuck her tongue out, and crossed her eyes.  Convulsing violently, she howled and gasped for what felt like an eternity.  I couldn't bring myself to watch (much).  Passengers started to react - "She's having a seizure!"  "Is there a doctor in the car?"  "Pull the emergency cord!"  "No, DON'T pull the emergency cord!*  We have to make it to the station!"

Just as we were pulling into 145th Street, she went limp.  A crowd formed around her, trying to wake her up gently and protect her head from hitting the hard, metal pole she had landed near as the train rattled to a stop.  The doors opened and passengers burst out onto the platform shouting "MEDIC!" and "We need a doctor!"  A young lady in scrubs boarded the train and brushed past me as I fled the scene.  I was racked with guilt.  I had thought such evil thoughts about someone that I gave them a seizure.  

Every time I have a mean thought about someone, I think to myself, "How would I feel if something bad happened to them?"  And that's how I'm getting over my mean streak.

6. How do you greet someone when meeting them for the first time?

I'm wicked nice!  But my greeting is probably rather flat.  "Hi, what's up."  I think.  At work, I have a routine.  I say "Hi, Welcome!" to customers.  On the "Hi," I wave the palms of my hands out like jazz hands in a welcoming gesture.  On the "Welcome," I slap my hands down on my legs and bow down a little bit.  I have no idea how I came up with this little routine, if you could call it that, but I get warm responses from people.  I think I'm both exuberant and humble, and that resonates well with people who are both high-energy and low-key.

7. How do you grocery shop?

Badly!  Eli and I go together, so we only have a chance about once a month or less to shop.  We go down to Trader Joe's, fill the cart with frozen foods and canned soups.  Six frozen chana masalas!  Four lentil soups!  Two loaves of bread, three boxes of corn dogs, and all the frozen Polenta Provencal they have!  We fill the cart, take it to the register, and it only costs about $100.  Trader Joe's is a miracle.  So we fill out a delivery slip, then race home, and wait for the doorbell.  When it comes, I have to play Freezer Tetris to make everything fit!

*in a medical emergency, you NEVER want to pull the emergency cord.  If you can get to a station, medical personnel can be called and the patient can be taken to a hospital.  If the train gets stuck between stations, it can take hours for emergency rescue teams to reach the patient and precious life-saving moments can be lost.