Time to lighten the mood
After the months passed, and asking myself over and over again what am doing in Durban I have decided its time to do the BENJAMIN Franklin exercise as to what is really important and what are just irritations, Last week I actually wrote a “letter” to myself entitled the reasons I am going to resign. Now I had no intention of ever sending this to my boss but I have found in the past that if you write it down and send it out to the universe so to speak you do feel the release of all the frustrations and anger and jealousy and resentment and brings one back to reality. Yes there are decisions to be made and there are issues that need to be addressed, but the picture is not as bleak as one thinks when you are knee deep in freight and unable to move after an injury incurred during this fiasco of the Silly Season.
“Silly seasons” is what we call this time of the year in the distribution season, I think me we need to call it the season of Madness and Destruction. To put this into perspective I need to give a brief (if I only knew how to be brief) overview to the lead up to this period of Madness.
The freight volumes increase by a minimum of 25% because of the increased orders for the Christmas panic buying. For one day of the year, we humans seem to lose control of our sense of judgment and instead of budgeting for one lavish meal and one family get together, we seem to think that the shops will never open again and that the need to re-decorate, renovate, re-invent our lives for one day is not only imperative, it is necessary and has to be achieved against all odds.
All these preparations are done in the hopes of providing a day that is perfect and will be the “Best Christmas” ever. Only to do this once again next year. Some of us seem to fall into this trap every year and never learn from our mistakes. We have changed our way of looking at this day in the past years and yes we do make it as special as possible and share the day with our loved ones. The difference is we have decided the day needs to be about family and memories rather than gifts and impressing the guests or family visitors from afar. We introduced two rules for buying gifts. The immediate family chooses one member of the family to buy for. We decide on a fixed amount that is to be spent on the gift and then the task is made so much easier. Instead of buying 5 or 25 gifts depending on the size of the family, you are tasked with buying one gift. This certainly reduces the stress of choosing a present and is much easier on the pocket.
For the big inevitable family lunches or dinners we have come up with an ingenious plan for presents. Each person is tasked with buying one gift only. This gift has a limit on the price. We then wrap the gifts and they are all put under the tree or on a designated table. When the meals are over, we all pick a number. The numbers amount to the amount of people present at the table. 1 – 15 for example. You chose the gift you want and even though the rules specify that you are not allowed to hide the gift once you have opened it, everyone tries to hide their gift if they are pleased with their choice. During this time the wine flows and the Breezers and the beers and spirits flow and we become more festive as the evening wears on. Giggles and ridiculous behavior is shared by all.
Now number 1 is the unlucky one because she or he cannot swap the gift, however number 15 can pick and choose from all the other 14 gifts that have been chosen. So number two can only swap with number one, number three with number one and two and so forth. There is always that one gift that everyone wants and number 15 is King so to speak. One thing to remember is there is no such thing as respect for your elders or for parents, in this exchange of gifts there is great laughter and teasing and a little bit of rivalry. ....Ok a lot of rivalry. I learnt the hard way one year as I traded with Bern’s mom and took away her gift. I was playfully ostracized by the family and in revenge the next person took it away from me…which in itself was even funnier as I had chose and beaded necklace and bracelet and one of the male cousins took it to prove a point. He wore the necklace with glee and this just added to the spirit of the events and inevitably we played 30 Seconds.
These trips down memory lane inspire me to actually get up and go to work.
I have made up my mind to look back to the past for inspiration and a reason to laugh at life again. So this is my giggle moment.
Like the time I was making the dog food for the week and had placed it in the fridge for the dogs that evening. On the way home I decided I had better tell Bern to advise Mathew that the food in the plastic container was in fact not left overs but the dog food which consisted of hearts, livers, off cuts and kidneys. I add pasta to make the meal stretch and to give the animal’s added nutrition.
As I was talking to Bern, she passed the message onto Mathew and I over heard him say “Thank God, I thought mom had lost her ability to cook!” This was the end of my driving skills; I could not see the road for the tears running down my face as I lost control of my laugh button. It turns out after warming up the food and testing it, only to find it quite bland and disgusting he added Tomatoe Sauce to make it more palatable. After another attempt of eating this meal he decided to add mayonnaise. Fortunately Bern had advised him that it was actually the dog food. Now in his defense the pasta did look quite appealing but he now asks if the foods is for human consumption before he warms up any left overs in the fridge. I now understand Rich’s refusal to eat any left overs!
Then there was the time Mathew needed to use my alarm on my pone as he wanted to wake up to study before his exam, we dutifully set the alarm and he tootled off to bed. Come early morning time, he storms into my room and throws my phone on the bed and in exclaims as only Mathew can in a voice close on breaking as he was just hitting puberty. That break in the voice makes it sound like a turkey crossed crow crossed bear, “Some Idiot keeps on trying to phone you!”
I sleepily look at the phone see no missed calls and suddenly the phone start squawking loudly, beep beep beep, …….its the l alarm Mathew set and in his sleep he was trying to answer the phone. And this is a reoccurring alarm every 10 minutes. Well that started our day with a smile and a few deep stomach guffaws.
It was obvious that no pre-swotting was done before the exam.
Puberty is such a fun time for boys isn’t it. I have no idea why nature decided that this has to be the most embarrassing time in a boy’s life when in fact all he wants is to be invisible as he embarks on his journey into high school. He is now the tiny fish after being the Big Fish and in Mathews case the King in junior school. Although in the time between junior school and high school had had grown at least 3 hem sizes so the trouser we bought for high school no longer fitted and our budget did not allow for a new set of trousers. So in desperation I sewed on false hems but he still looked like John Travolta with his trouser not long enough to hide the shoes! Not so cool for his first day at school feeling quite out of place.
While still in junior school the body undergoes certain changes and Mathew came through to the lounge to share is great disappointment. He had actually been quite proud of himself when he thought that certain areas were changing into man-hood, only to find out that the “Hair he had found” was in fact a hair left over from Sarah in the bath. He was bitterly disappointed and true to his nature could not wait to share the events with us. Mathew has never been shy or afraid to make himself the centre of some ridiculous situation.
Mathew is the clown of the family and he enjoys a good laugh just like the next person, even if he is the reason we are rolling around on the floor laughing uncontrollably. However after the week I have had it has been a little bit of sunshine to see the lighter side of life. However his instinct to protect his mom is very much in the forefront and my land lord can be very grateful he did not pitch at the house after his very abusive and uncalled for threats.
He would have had to face Mathew and Bern and the security company, I think he realized he had over stepped the boundaries of the law and knew I would not hesitate to take the matter further.
Oh the joys of life and the frustrations are part and parcel of what we face every day. Thank goodness for the happy moments we all experience which can be used to lighten any difficult time.
After the months passed, and asking myself over and over again what am doing in Durban I have decided its time to do the BENJAMIN Franklin exercise as to what is really important and what are just irritations, Last week I actually wrote a “letter” to myself entitled the reasons I am going to resign. Now I had no intention of ever sending this to my boss but I have found in the past that if you write it down and send it out to the universe so to speak you do feel the release of all the frustrations and anger and jealousy and resentment and brings one back to reality. Yes there are decisions to be made and there are issues that need to be addressed, but the picture is not as bleak as one thinks when you are knee deep in freight and unable to move after an injury incurred during this fiasco of the Silly Season.
“Silly seasons” is what we call this time of the year in the distribution season, I think me we need to call it the season of Madness and Destruction. To put this into perspective I need to give a brief (if I only knew how to be brief) overview to the lead up to this period of Madness.
The freight volumes increase by a minimum of 25% because of the increased orders for the Christmas panic buying. For one day of the year, we humans seem to lose control of our sense of judgment and instead of budgeting for one lavish meal and one family get together, we seem to think that the shops will never open again and that the need to re-decorate, renovate, re-invent our lives for one day is not only imperative, it is necessary and has to be achieved against all odds.
All these preparations are done in the hopes of providing a day that is perfect and will be the “Best Christmas” ever. Only to do this once again next year. Some of us seem to fall into this trap every year and never learn from our mistakes. We have changed our way of looking at this day in the past years and yes we do make it as special as possible and share the day with our loved ones. The difference is we have decided the day needs to be about family and memories rather than gifts and impressing the guests or family visitors from afar. We introduced two rules for buying gifts. The immediate family chooses one member of the family to buy for. We decide on a fixed amount that is to be spent on the gift and then the task is made so much easier. Instead of buying 5 or 25 gifts depending on the size of the family, you are tasked with buying one gift. This certainly reduces the stress of choosing a present and is much easier on the pocket.
For the big inevitable family lunches or dinners we have come up with an ingenious plan for presents. Each person is tasked with buying one gift only. This gift has a limit on the price. We then wrap the gifts and they are all put under the tree or on a designated table. When the meals are over, we all pick a number. The numbers amount to the amount of people present at the table. 1 – 15 for example. You chose the gift you want and even though the rules specify that you are not allowed to hide the gift once you have opened it, everyone tries to hide their gift if they are pleased with their choice. During this time the wine flows and the Breezers and the beers and spirits flow and we become more festive as the evening wears on. Giggles and ridiculous behavior is shared by all.
Now number 1 is the unlucky one because she or he cannot swap the gift, however number 15 can pick and choose from all the other 14 gifts that have been chosen. So number two can only swap with number one, number three with number one and two and so forth. There is always that one gift that everyone wants and number 15 is King so to speak. One thing to remember is there is no such thing as respect for your elders or for parents, in this exchange of gifts there is great laughter and teasing and a little bit of rivalry. ....Ok a lot of rivalry. I learnt the hard way one year as I traded with Bern’s mom and took away her gift. I was playfully ostracized by the family and in revenge the next person took it away from me…which in itself was even funnier as I had chose and beaded necklace and bracelet and one of the male cousins took it to prove a point. He wore the necklace with glee and this just added to the spirit of the events and inevitably we played 30 Seconds.
These trips down memory lane inspire me to actually get up and go to work.
I have made up my mind to look back to the past for inspiration and a reason to laugh at life again. So this is my giggle moment.
Like the time I was making the dog food for the week and had placed it in the fridge for the dogs that evening. On the way home I decided I had better tell Bern to advise Mathew that the food in the plastic container was in fact not left overs but the dog food which consisted of hearts, livers, off cuts and kidneys. I add pasta to make the meal stretch and to give the animal’s added nutrition.
As I was talking to Bern, she passed the message onto Mathew and I over heard him say “Thank God, I thought mom had lost her ability to cook!” This was the end of my driving skills; I could not see the road for the tears running down my face as I lost control of my laugh button. It turns out after warming up the food and testing it, only to find it quite bland and disgusting he added Tomatoe Sauce to make it more palatable. After another attempt of eating this meal he decided to add mayonnaise. Fortunately Bern had advised him that it was actually the dog food. Now in his defense the pasta did look quite appealing but he now asks if the foods is for human consumption before he warms up any left overs in the fridge. I now understand Rich’s refusal to eat any left overs!
Then there was the time Mathew needed to use my alarm on my pone as he wanted to wake up to study before his exam, we dutifully set the alarm and he tootled off to bed. Come early morning time, he storms into my room and throws my phone on the bed and in exclaims as only Mathew can in a voice close on breaking as he was just hitting puberty. That break in the voice makes it sound like a turkey crossed crow crossed bear, “Some Idiot keeps on trying to phone you!”
I sleepily look at the phone see no missed calls and suddenly the phone start squawking loudly, beep beep beep, …….its the l alarm Mathew set and in his sleep he was trying to answer the phone. And this is a reoccurring alarm every 10 minutes. Well that started our day with a smile and a few deep stomach guffaws.
It was obvious that no pre-swotting was done before the exam.
Puberty is such a fun time for boys isn’t it. I have no idea why nature decided that this has to be the most embarrassing time in a boy’s life when in fact all he wants is to be invisible as he embarks on his journey into high school. He is now the tiny fish after being the Big Fish and in Mathews case the King in junior school. Although in the time between junior school and high school had had grown at least 3 hem sizes so the trouser we bought for high school no longer fitted and our budget did not allow for a new set of trousers. So in desperation I sewed on false hems but he still looked like John Travolta with his trouser not long enough to hide the shoes! Not so cool for his first day at school feeling quite out of place.
While still in junior school the body undergoes certain changes and Mathew came through to the lounge to share is great disappointment. He had actually been quite proud of himself when he thought that certain areas were changing into man-hood, only to find out that the “Hair he had found” was in fact a hair left over from Sarah in the bath. He was bitterly disappointed and true to his nature could not wait to share the events with us. Mathew has never been shy or afraid to make himself the centre of some ridiculous situation.
Mathew is the clown of the family and he enjoys a good laugh just like the next person, even if he is the reason we are rolling around on the floor laughing uncontrollably. However after the week I have had it has been a little bit of sunshine to see the lighter side of life. However his instinct to protect his mom is very much in the forefront and my land lord can be very grateful he did not pitch at the house after his very abusive and uncalled for threats.
He would have had to face Mathew and Bern and the security company, I think he realized he had over stepped the boundaries of the law and knew I would not hesitate to take the matter further.
Oh the joys of life and the frustrations are part and parcel of what we face every day. Thank goodness for the happy moments we all experience which can be used to lighten any difficult time.
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