Unpredictable Mondays

It was definitely a Monday today. There's no doubt about it. Some Mondays are better than others. Today wasn't bad...it was just...a Monday.

For example, our lovely new building is still under construction. The deadline for completion is by the time our first workshop arrives. That's in less than three weeks. Thus...construction is in full swing. When we first moved in to our building, we were told the bad noises would only take place during our lunch hour, during the evenings or on weekends. These bad noises involve hammering, drilling, sawing and whatever it is that causes the building to shake so that my entire desk is vibrating.

Today, they added a new sound to the mix: That of the jackhammer.

The jackhammer is evil. Not only does the sound horrible but it makes your teeth hurt. I know it's necessary to construction because concrete must be drilled through somehow but when it's literally right outside your window, it's horrible.

So, today, in addition to the many sounds of a Monday morning- my boss being annoyed because he worked all weekend and got nowhere and conversing loudly with people aboutthat sad fact topped with the fact that his boss came in to talk football with the males in our area....it was loud. Very loud.

Still, the jackhammer quieted, mid afternoon. Aside from the jackhammer and the sawing and the drilling and the tempers...it was just a Monday. Just a loud Monday.

The evening was also odd. I stopped at the closest grocery store to my house on the way home from work- it's not my type of grocery store...it's one of those run-down types where people go to buy the necessities but where you wouldn't feel comfortable buying fresh fish. Still, I just needed eggs, milk and cheddar cheese.

The shopping itself wasn't bad. When I came out, I was stopped by an older lady asking for bus fare. She was stranded. I didn't have too much change and am always wary of people asking for cash so I shook my head. Then she asked for directions which, sadly, I could not provide. Then she asked for a ride to the gas station which I was going to pass by anyway. So I let her ride with me only to discover she just needed a ride to her sister's which wasn't that far. Since I had my GPS, I decided to do the nice thing and give her a ride to her sister's.

Well, we got there....she asked me to wait. I did...just as I thought it was safe to leave, she came running down. Her sister wasn't home. Rather than sit in the cold on the stoop, she wanted to wait in a restaurant and nicely asked for a ride. I sighed and let her get back in my car. Well, it turned out the closest fast food place was next to Jungle Jim's which is where we ended up. This was rather ironic given that I hadn't wanted to go as far as Jungle Jim's to go grocery shopping. When I finally dropped my passenger off at White Castle, she asked if I had any money- she hadn't eaten all day. Thus...silly, soft Monkeypants, I gave her a few dollars.

I have no idea if she really was broke. I have no idea if that was really her sister's place. All I know is that I gave a ride to a stranger tonight whose name was Gail. That's all I know. She barely said thank you when I dropped her off. I admit, I was a little put out- I had driven her around rather a lot and thought a real thank you might have been nice...but I knew that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was just an odd way to spend my Monday evening.

Yet, in a way, it was quite an interesting way to pass an hour or so. Sometimes it's doing things like give rides to strange Gail's that take us out of the routine of our lives for a little while and remind us that it really is ok if things don't go quite according to plan. There was no harm done by my little driving excursion tonight- just the opportunity to pass time with a stranger and hope that, in the end, she found a way to get home...or back to her sister's. I will most likely never know...that's the thing about life. If it were a story I was writing, Gail would have found her way back...but in real life, there's never an easy ending...sometimes there's the frustration of never knowing. But for whatever moments of our lives passed together, I hope that Gail found her way back to her little house that has creepy sounds in the attic but has her 35 year old son to protect her. It's amazing how much you can learn about a person in a short time.

As for me, my Monday is almost over. It's been an odd, loud, unpredictable sort of day. As strange as it sounds....sometimes I think we need that. Like with Gail, it's a reminder that life is full of surprises....and I quite like that.

Nevertheless, I think I'll avoid the supermarket tomorrow....just in case.

Happy Tuesday.