Signs

January 17, 2022

I mentioned last week how I get into cleaning mode when Melissa goes on a trip and then tend to use reverse prioritizing to decide the order to complete my tasks.  While I generally find this effective, it did not work as well this weekend.  Part of the problem was I needed Melissa’s input.  Melissa is like me when it comes to cleaning, “if you clean you can do it however you want.”  I knew that was not the case with her succulents.  While I felt comfortable moving pots to different locations, I knew most of the trays of plants were where they were for specific reasons.  I intended to paint the wall behind a stack of pots and then set up another shelf I had brought back from Kansas, but that meant moving plants.  I reached my mystical halfway point where I turn to the important tasks when I realized the signs were against me.  The second shelf was not going to happen.

Another problem I ran into was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  I woke today fully intending to take a load of clothes and miscellany to the Good Will and loaded them in the back of the car.  I try to limit the number of trips I make and concentrate several tasks each time I venture out.  That way I can focus my time and not worry about having to be out of the house every day.  Part of my organizing had been breaking down boxes and sorting through old electronic equipment.  Our recycling center is one of the few I have found which accepts old electronics.  I packed the car with cardboard, threw in the plastic bottles, and stuffed the electronics in the back seat.  Driving to the center it hit me, this was MLK Day.  Not surprisingly, the signs said the center was closed.

My organizing weekend turned out like most of the time.  I started with a big push, had a day where I ignored everything, and then closed with a rush to beat Melissa’s return home.  We always try and keep each other informed of progress when we are traveling.  It not only allows us to live vicariously through the traveler, but it also lets the other know if something goes wrong.  The snowstorms combined with the airline sickouts to cause both flights and airports to close.  That meant there were a lot of irate travelers.  TSA had posted signs at the checkpoints and the ticket counters stating if you were aggressive or hit someone, you would receive a lifetime ban from flying the airline.  As tempers rose the agents quelled several disputes by pointing at the signs.

Thoughts:   Melissa told me that as she approached her (different) departure gate, there was a man on the floor being treated for head injuries from a fight.  When her group was later getting off the plane another fight broke out between two football fans from opposing teams.  Both the injured man and the two fans were being “assisted” by the police.  Apparently, none of these people had bothered to read the signs.  Signs are placed to direct people to either follow the law or to avoid causing accidents.  When we disregard the signs, it can lead to a lifetime ban.  Ignoring or disregarding the safety signs for covid puts everyone in jeopardy.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.