All Fun and Games Until Somebody Chokes

Bingo was preempted by a surprise birthday party for the Baker today.

Red Light, the organizer of the event, went all out.

Potato Salad

Ribs

Corn on the Cob

Pièce de résistance

Of course, my sensitive gut demanded I decline but it was not only my gut issues stopping me from eating anything.

It was just yesterday when Red Light texted me to come down to her unit, sign the Baker’s birthday card.

That was the first time I’ve been in her unit and it didn't feel right. Sorta anti-feng shui.

She’s got that nice patio window to open out to the world, let the sunshine in, but the curtains on the patio window were drawn and inside was like a dungeon — dark, gloomy, cramped.

The dark brown couch and matching big chair, which were too large, took up too much space. The color did not serve to brighten up the place. Nor did whatever was causing the kitchen and kitchen table area to look small and cramped.

Hers is a one-bedroom, same as mine and we all have the same space to work with. So, the idea of Red Light sitting in that dark depressing atmosphere all day, no space to move around … if I could have eaten what she’d prepared in that kitchen of hers, I could not, would not.

Would you believe that, in the midst of the seniors enjoying their meal — me with a kale salad, cherry tomatoes and walnuts, there was a loud bang.

One of the seniors was lying flat on her back on the floor.

Pandemonium broke out as we tried to grasp what had happened.

"Did she just fall and hit her head?" someone asked.

"Don’t touch her!" someone else yelled.

"I’ll go get management" was another voice.

"Should I call 911?" asked another.

The woman on the floor, in response to "Are you hurt?" began touching her chest.

Assistant Maintenance Guy rushed in, took one look and said, "I can’t touch her".

By then, the woman on the floor had somewhat caught her breath and asked to be lifted from the floor.

AMG repeated, "I can’t touch her", so two ladies managed to get her off her back into a seated position. The woman who’d fallen then grabbed onto the edge of the table and, with the help of the two ladies, got herself off the floor back into her chair.

When someone again asked, "Should I call 911?", she replied "No, I’ll be okay".

The problem she said was food got stuck in her throat and, first thing she knew, she was on the floor.

When she said food had gotten caught in her throat, I thought Ah Ha!, food from that dark gloomy kitchen, but who knows.

The new manager (No. 10) showed up, as did Head Maintenance Guy.

I couldn't hear was No. 10 was saying to her, but she did give her a piece of a paper and a pen, had her write down what happened, had two other residents sign as having witnessed seeing her on the floor.

I'm assuming management was protecting itself from a lawsuit — it wasn't a slip and fall.

At any rate, I looked over shortly after all was said and done — the fallen resident looked fine, fully recovered, had gone back to eating, went onto participate in the party games.

Other than the choking incident, the event was a success.

Unlike her drab unit, Red Light had decorated the room beautifully.

Sitting in my usual spot, regular table, what did I find but boots.

How kismet was that.

The Baker was thoroughly surprised, cried several times, even though she arrived before most of the residents, because there was a miscommunication as to when to arrive.

I’d planned to be there well before she, in order to capture her look of surprise. However, due to the miscommunication, I missed her initial surprised reaction. So, what I did was to later have her go out, come back in, do a reenactment, LOL.

Terrific acting job.

At the end of the event, as we were preparing to clean up and head out, I saw a half-naked woman enter the pool area.

It’s your lucky day Mike …. Black Bikini is back. She’s wearing a different skimpy outfit, but it’s definitely your girl.

No one in the room claimed to know her, but she absolutely must be a new resident, not a visitor.

Last time I spotted her, she was cleaning the pool's filter. This time she grabbed pool equipment and began cleaning the jacuzzi, then the pool.