Karma Speaks

On my schedule for today was 1) Catch up with complex goings on in the Community Room during Pizza Tuesday; 2) Reorganize kitchen cabinet; 3) Clean refrigerator 4) Run by local Starbucks to see if caught up in the boycott.

All I actually got done was No. 1.

I checked into Community Room. Learned Community Manager’s suspension ends on Monday the 23rd. She’s expected to be back in her office that day -- Just in time to host the Residents/Management meeting on the 26th, and just in time to be held accountable if the May Day re-inspection goes wrong.

Also learned it’s not looking good for our favorite veteran. Just home from a week in hospital with pneumonia, he’s learned he needs a bypass.

A sweet old gentleman, already extremely thin and poorly, I don’t want to think he might not make it, but I can’t help thinking it. He must be thinking it as well because, frail and weak as he is, he made it down to the Community Room to give his favorite ladies, of which I’m one, a string of Marika Pearls.

Having been around the block a time or two, he knew enough to also bring a few token pearl bracelets for others.

I’ve been working really hard to overcome my disgust and judgment of Greedy Grabby – the woman who has an air of entitlement, that enough is never enough, never contributes but always ALWAYS takes more than her share. 

I felt I was making progress.

I could greet her without gritting my teeth, my thoughts towards her were free of judgment and, when she saw me sitting in the Community Room alone one morning (I was meditating before people began coming in) she walked over and offered me a flower.

The old me would have declined her offering, or accepted and thrown in the trash, because it’s bad juju to have anything in one’s possession from someone one doesn't respect. One thing the old me never would have done was to accept with thanks, which I did. I even took the flower to my unit and put it in water.

The fact that it immediately died should have been my clue that her bad juju was alive and well, and that my judgment of her was actually instinct/spiritual wisdom, because as our favorite vet was treating us with long strands of pearls, she walked over, with her hand out, and he handed her a small pearl bracelet.

She had the gall to say, “No. I want the long one”.

That’s her favorite word … “I want”.

Our vet had already given me – who he was sitting with, Church Lady – whom he crushes on and another woman who he frequently sits and talks with the long strands, so when he told Greedy Grabby all that remained were the little ones, she actually went through his bag looking AND, when she couldn’t find a long strand, she kept her short strand and took the remaining other two short strands.

There was that, and then another resident made a fuss because she couldn’t jump in line ahead of others to get her pizza.

Too much ugliness. Time for me to go back to my unit.

Starting on organizing the kitchen cupboard, I pulled out a few things I can no longer consume and decided to take to the Community Room Kitchen counter for whoever might want or need. Included in that giveaway was a 1-pound bag of Starbucks Verona Grounds.

That wasn’t me protesting what happened to the two Black men at Starbucks Philadelphia … I’m so accustomed to reading, seeing, hearing, occasionally still experiencing racial profiling that I’ve accepted it as business as usual and don’t even react, but I’m glad to see others are waking up, realizing we’re not making it up that the rules are different for us, and those waking up are making a fuss about it. I don’t think, however, the CEO should be apologizing and held accountable. It’s the barista that denied bathroom privileges and called the police.

Where’s she?

Why isn’t she front and center accepting responsibility for this brouhaha and apologizing? Knowing how the police over-react, shoot Blacks first, make excuses later, she could have caused their murder .... over nothing!

At any rate, giving the grounds away wasn’t in protest, but because inasmuch as I’m doing butter coffee every morning, I no longer needed the unopened pound of Verona grounds.

Guess who grabbed the coffee off the counter as soon as I put it down.

Yep … Greedy Grabby.

Anyway, since Bingo was about to start, and it wasn't proctored by Activity Director, but a representative of an agency trying to sell us on their insurance, with some nice looking prizes available, I selected a card and sat down.

Guess who sat down next to me.

Yep … Greedy Grabby.

I tried. Honestly, I really tried to keep my seat and let her talk to me, which she surely would have, but I couldn’t do it.

I mentally spoke to the Universe, saying NO, I’d had enough for one day, moved to another table and got lucky.

I never win, but won twice and got two cool prizes.

Wire Basket and Rose Scent

I didn’t realize, until I returned to my unit, that the title of the rose scent is “Karma”.

It’s like the Universe sending me a message … “She’s a difficult case, but thank you for trying”.