The DMV

While waiting in the DMV on their uncomfortable molded plastic chairs, I struck up a conversation with a woman seated next to me. She held a large envelope filled with pages protruding in disarray. She looked disorganized and harried. 

“What number did they call?” she asked.

“G17, I answered and pointed to the screen above the counter.”

“What did I do with my number? She mumbled looking through her many pages. Oh, here it is, G46. I’ll have to wait a long time.”

“I just got back from Jordan and I forgot about this appointment.”

She took out her phone to show me pictures. “I rode a donkey down a steep hill into an ancient area. It’s the only way to get there.” She looked so enthusiastic and happy about her adventures.

“Wow that’s quite a trip. How long was the flight?” I asked.

“Oh, we stopped off in Vienna before heading back and went to a concert in a palace there.”

She went on to tell me that she almost died last year. She went into the hospital for knee surgery and developed pneumonia. She needed a tracheotomy to breath and since she couldn’t swallow, they inserted a feeding tube for nourishment.

It seems this poor woman had one mishap after another. The feeding tube became blocked, her fever spiked and she went into a coma. She stayed hospitalized for three months, near death’s door. Then she needed to learn to walk again and had an additional two weeks in physio therapy before going home. The whole process took six months to recover.

“So, I decided to travel to all the places I have always wanted to see, since life can be fleeting.”

I completely forgot about the uncomfortable chair and long wait at the DMV.

They called my number and I bid her good luck and went to the counter.

I thought about her all day. She went through such an ordeal but still had a very upbeat attitude. She smiled and shared her happiness with me.

What a lesson!