TheBanyanTree: A Little Splash of Sunshine

[Margaret R. Kramer]

This gentle winter has morphed into a MANLY one.  We had some snow, not the
snowstorm of the century, but enough snow to snarl traffic during the Monday
morning rush.  Then it snowed all day and caused the same snarl to reoccur
for the Monday evening rush.  It took me an hour to get to work (45 minutes
is my usual trip), because I was out on the freeway so incredibly early and
an hour and a half to get home, because I got off the freeway parking lot
and followed the river road with its sheltering snow covered oak trees to my
driveway.

The weather people said we were going to miss the deep freeze, but the
freezer door opened anyway and poured incredibly cold arctic air over us.
Each day after the little snowstorm it got colder and colder, bottoming out
at –24.  We haven’t temperatures like that for eight years.  I can’t believe
we had eight years of wimpy, kind and gentle winters.

I remembered what it’s like to have hair on my chest.  I wore my long black
coat that drops to my ankles.  I wore a hat.  I wrapped a scarf around my
face.  I warmed up my car.  And I didn’t linger too long in the wind chill.
I was careful driving, always looking for sinister and dangerous black ice.

We should crawl above zero today.  That’s good, because I’m going to
participate in the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s Frozen 5K and half marathon.
They shortened the half marathon to a quarter marathon because of the cold
weather, but the 5K is still on in its entirety (3.1 miles).  I’m not too
concerned about getting cold, because I’ll layer up and I’ll be moving, but
I worry about my feet.  I’ll wear some wool socks and double those up with
another pair of socks.  I did the 5K last year and the temps were in the
upper 20s.  It was the day the Challenger fell apart.  I’ll always remember
that with great sadness.

And the cold goes on, making it seem incredibly difficult to accomplish
anything.  Volkswagen is providing me with a free car while we wait for the
part to arrive from Germany.  But they didn’t pay my rental car expenses as
they promised, so it’s time to hire an attorney.  I need an advocate anyway,
because nothing is moving on this.

I went to the dentist for my semi-annual check-up and got yelled at.  My
wonderful dentist just had her baby on Monday, so I was seen by her partner.
This one is MEAN.  Even though I brush my teeth with a sonicare toothbrush,
I floss everyday, and I use fluoride, I still have deep pockets around my
teeth.  I know that and I can’t change that, but she went on and on what an
I awful person I must be because I have periodontal disease and my insurance
won’t cover more than two cleanings a year.  I wanted to punch her, but that
’s not the Minnesota way, so I made my appointments with my wonderful
dentist and left, feeling like a piece of food stuck between my teeth.
Dentists like her are the reason people don’t go to the dentist as they
should.  Then the dentists wonder why they don’t have any business.  I think
a letter to her and the Minnesota Dental Board are in order.  That’s a good
project for a cold weekend.

Finally, we took the dogs in for their shots.  We needed to get them up to
date, because they’ll be in a boarding kennel next week while we go in
search of an even a more manly winter at the North Shore of Lake Superior.
This is a major ordeal, because CoCo weights 125 pounds and Saydi weighs 75
pounds and they don’t fit in one car.  So we both drive to the vet with the
excited dogs panting in our ears.  Saydi, who is usually aggressive at the
vet, was a GOOD GIRL and did very well. CoCo, our good boy, spent his time
barking at a yellow lab in the waiting room.  He was not a very good boy.
No could hear with his barking echoing through the lobby.

The charge came to $154.  We paid and drove our cars home.  Around 6:30 pm,
when I was feeling very low because of the cold weather, because of my car,
and because of my rotting teeth, the phone rang.  It was our vet.  He said
that they had overcharged us for the shots and he re-did our check card
amount for $123 instead of $154.

As I hung up the phone, a little sun streaked through the window.  He didn’t
have to do that.  His lobby was packed with people and dogs when we left.  I
heard his receptionist tell someone on the phone that he had a full day on
Saturday and two emergencies coming in.  He was incredibly busy, but he had
taken the time to go through the receipts and call us about the error.  We
wouldn’t have known how much the shots would have cost.  $154 sounded
reasonable to me.  But he did do that.  He did care enough to be honest.

Even though Volkswagen is trying to rip me off, even though a dentist who is
getting paid by me and my insurance company is intent on insulting me and
risking losing my business, and even though it’s cold and in the dead of
winter, there is still one person who is honest and wonderful, and that
phone call made me feel like there is still hope for humanity.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
~Author Unknown