TheBanyanTree: The Nutcracker

[Monique]

Today a man died in a stall of the men's room at The Keller Auditorium, steps from a lobby teeming with people. The man had packages, or presents, with him, and it was half an hour until the performance. No one knew when he died, it wasn't a noticeable death, he didn't go out screaming, at least not so's he'd be heard. When security broke into the stall the man was grey, and he had no pulse. His pants were down, making it an undignified death, but does that matter at a time like that?

He was grandfather age, which could be anywhere from 35 to 105, and chances are good he wasn't at the ballet alone.

I love The Nutcracker, partly for the holiday atmosphere, partly because the little kids are dressed up in their fanciest tulle (girls, mostly), partly because I'm a huge Tchaikovsky fan, and partly to see people do things that are amazing.

The man who died would have been with others, maybe his wife, his children, his grandchildren. Maybe his granddaughter was the little girl in the pink fluffy dress. She needed a couple of feet on both sides of her in order to get through the crowd. Maybe he was with the three little girls wearing matching black and red dresses, their mother in red. Maybe, like a radio celebrity we talked to, he was there with just one little girl, a grandfather/granddaughter outing.

It is the day after Christmas, and someone's grandfather died in a bathroom stall at The Keller Auditorium, a man who moments earlier had been healthy enough to see a performance of The Nutcracker, healthy enough to go the men's room alone. Did he have a premonition? Did he know? Probably not. If I were going to die in a public restroom I would not be pulling my pants down first. I'd probably be screaming for someone to stop it. 

I did not see him, having little reason to go to the men's room, but Mr C did. He was there when security came in, when they found him, he saw the ashen pallor and watched them check for a pulse that did not exist.

And then he left the men's room when security cleared the room, and we went in to see The Nutcracker, while one family, at least, learned they'd lost a loved one unexpectedly. 

Life is such a crap shoot.






Monique

Sent from my tiny miniature iPad, which is amusing and is not used for work, other than answering important emails.