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I've discovered a problem with being at Marc's. His heaters make a ton of noise so we have to turn them off at night. Then in the morning it's freezing. It's so cold, in fact, tha I just can't force myself out of bed. I'm not tired anymore, and i'm certainly not sleeping, but I'm not venturing out there either. Marc's already gone most days (he has to be in class by 9:30) so I can't even beg him to get up first and turn on the heat or bring me a sweatshirt (like I do for him on the weekend when he start's sputtering "but it's cold in the outside world"), Other than that and the fact I get no work done and the fact that Marc spends at least 13 hours a day either in class or at the office it's perfect here. | | |
| I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know where it happened, I don’t know how or why, but somewhere along the way chivalry died, at least on the MBTA. I imagine it must have been a violent death. I became aware of this reality today through an unfortunate incident. I was trying to get home at about 2pm and descended the long escalator down to the red line stop at Porter. Then, as I walked down the shorter staircase from the inbound to the outbound trains I slipped. I think the floor was wet, or at least I hope it was because otherwise I’m the least coordinated person ever. Either way suddenly my sneakers did not grip the stairs and down I went, landing flat on my behind. I was probably lucky that I was wearing my backpack – it prevented my head from smashing into the ground and that would have been unpleasant – but at the time it didn’t feel so lucky since once I was down I couldn’t get back up. I gripped the railing and pulled but still my feet wouldn’t grip the slippery surface. Eventually I hoisted myself off the ground feeling rather embarrassed by the whole affair. As I slowly continued my descent I slipped again, this time grabbing onto the railing to protect by bruised backside and succeeding in cutting, bruising and spraining my wrist. From the outsider’s perspective it would probably have been pretty funny to watch, but thankfully no one laughed. No one offered to help either, or checked to see if I was ok. I would understand if I were big or scary, but I’m not. There were four people on the platform throughout my ordeal. One guy, about my age, watched the whole thing from where he stood, three stairs below me, without blinking, moving or asking if I was ok. Worse still, a girl behind me watched my fall, and skirted around me stepping less than an inch from my hand as I struggled to rise – I suppose I should feel lucky she didn’t actually crush my hand beneath her dainty black ballet slipper since apparently I’m invisible. The whole thing was disgraceful. It goes beyond a lack of chivalry. There was a complete lack of human decency or even a sense of humor. I’d like to think that if I had been standing there or walking by I would have offered to help, and I hope that in the future you will too. | | |
| I never anticipated actually needing my CPR training. I also never pictured having a day like today. It’s a long story so I’ll start from the beginning.
Around 10am I received a call from my mother informing me that my brother was very sick and that she wanted me to pick up some meds for him and bring him soup. I called my brother and he asked me not to come because he didn’t want to make me sick. “The only way I’ll want you to come,” he told me “is if I have to go to the hospital.” And then he hung up. I took that as the imperial demand it was and decided to stay home.
Around 1pm I received a call from my brother. He told me that our mother had sent him to pick up prescription drugs. When he got to the pharmacy he discovered that the order hadn’t been placed so he called my mom to see what was wrong. He discovered that she hadn’t ordered the antibiotics because she had suffered from sudden headaches and vomiting and then collapsed. My father was taking her to the hospital. “And please don’t call, I’ll tell you if we hear anything.” Wonderful.
Around 5:30pm I was still freaking out.
Slightly later, my dad called to say that my mother appears to be alright, but they’re not sure what’s wrong and she’s going to take some time off work and go see a neurologist.
Around 10pm my roommate knocks on my door because her boyfriend just broke up with her and she’s devastated. So I make her tea and we talk and go for a walk. I’m not helping much. Eventually she goes into her room for cigarettes and asks me to come out with her “for a smoke.” I went. While we’re outside my sister calls, she’s still freaking out. So am I. And on top of it I notice that my roommate has started to shake violently. I ask her if she’s ok. She says no and we decide to go inside.
About 3 minutes later I am in my room collecting my videos because we had decided to watch a movie when I hear a gigantic bang. I come running to discover my roommate on the floor. She’s not breathing. I start CPR and after one repetition her head jerks up into me. She’s conscious again (I thought that only happened in movies). I call 911 and then hold her as she sits on the floor shaking. Her legs are spasming and she’s gasping for breath.
About 10 minutes later I ride in an ambulance for the first time and get to spend all night in an ER where people are bleeding. I saw someone die. And now I’m home. I’m not sure I’ll sleep… not now, not ever. I can’t even think anymore.
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| I can't seem to focus at all lately. I think it's because I have so much to do, it makes me shut down. I don't even know where to start. I've watched more TV than I ever did as an undergrad, and it's not even good TV - just tons of Malcolm in the Middle. It's not a bad show if watched occasionally, but 7 episodes in a row is too much.
Wow, I'm so pathetic. And I should have read 7 biographies by today, needless to say I didn't.
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| And today I got Marc's ID confiscated... who knew that the picture comes up when you swipe your card and I don't look like a guy? | | |
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