giggling

This happened several weeks ago, but I decided to write about it as I think most experiences we have in daily life, somebody else may have had the same thing and everyone can learn something from them. 

It was on a Sunday afternoon, a couple weeks ago. I was working on some illustrations for a project at home, and needed to do a lot of copying on large size paper 11 x 14. My copy machine doesn’t fit that amount and size paper, so I decided to go down to the local Copy and Print shop where I usually go when I need this type of work done. It was getting late, about 7 pm, and I know this place closes at 8 pm.

They opened on Sundays which makes it convenient for us whom might need last minute copying done on the weekend. Since it was about a 20 to 25 minutes walk down the Avenue, I decided to leave right away so that I could get there in time before they close. It was a nice sunny warm afternoon, in summer the sun usually sets after 8 pm, so it was nice and light outside after 7 pm. 

I got there about 7.40 pm, and I knew the owner and his staff. So I greeted everyone and said I will be quick, as I knew they were closing in 15 minutes. I was the last customer in as I was doing my copying I didn’t see anyone else entering.  Finally I finished just in time, and the place was practically empty as people were exiting as the clock on the wall said 7.55 pm.

After paying at the cashier, and before I left I thought to myself I better use the restroom real quick as it is another 25 minutes walk home and I needed to go before walking that long distance home. So I rushed to the little restroom just on the side of the copy area. It was a one person restroom, one stall for both men and women. Very small, probably just for real emergencies, and for getting out real fast. 

I don’t believe I was in there for more than a minute, but when I got out I noticed the whole shop was dark, all the lights were out, it was totally quiet, and not a living soul was around. I was stunned, still hoping that somebody might be somewhere in the shop, I started shouting: “Hello, Hello is anybody here?” No answer.  

Then it dawned on me that the owner and staff had left exactly at 8 pm and that I was locked up there all alone. Now what do I do? I tried not to panic. I left the restroom door open so that the light from there could help me see my way around in the dark.  

All I could see really was several rows of copy machines, boxes of paper stacked on each other, and boxes of other office supplies, white-outs, paper clips, and shelves loaded with other computer software and necessities. 

The only thing I could think on at that moment was that I was hungry, I needed to get home to eat, finish my project and get some rest because I had an appointment the next day at 9 am.  And no way was I sleeping on a copy machine or stacked boxes of paper overnight until they opened the next morning. And where would I get food from?  

So from the light shining from the opened restroom door, I carefully walked my way to the front door. It was closed from outside with that heavy metal sliding extra protection door they used on the outside of businesses. But there was a small area at the bottom where the sliding door didn’t come all the way down, and I could see through the heavy glass door outside. 

So I got down on my hands and knees, and stooping down so that I could look through that small area at the bottom of the heavy glass door to see if somebody was outside that I could get their attention and let them know that I was locked inside. I thought that maybe the owner or some of his staff might still be outside. It wasn’t that long, that everybody could have disappeared so quickly.     

The only people I saw was some children playing outside on the sidewalk. It was still light outside, and warm, so no doubt they were allowed to play out that late. So on my hands and knees and with my head cocked to one side trying to see through the bottom of the heavy glass door, I started waving frantically trying to get the children’s attention, and shouting  please go and call your parents and let them know somebody is locked up in the shop and I need help getting out. Somebody’s parents would know the owner as this is a small community of families, I thought. 

But the children, just started staring and grinning at me. Before long they called their other friends, and I had a whole group of kids staring and laughing at me while I was frantically waving and shouting for help. They no doubt couldn’t understand what I was saying, and in their innocent minds didn’t realize what had happened.  

 All I got was stares and big grinning faces. What were these kids thinking? That I was giving some kind of puppet show, or playing a hide and seek  game? Probably to them, I looked funny. Like they were looking at a movie of a woman on her hands and knees, trapped in the dark, stooping with head cocked to the side, looking almost upside down, waving frantically while peeping at them through a small area at the bottom of a thick glass door.

Maybe if I was standing outside from where they were, the scene might seem funny, or perhaps I looked like Lucille Ball in the old movies. For me at the time  it was not, I was starving and really beginning to panic.  So I was just about to get up from stooping down and waving at these kids trying to get help, and decided to use the phone and call 911 for help. When suddenly an older man on a cell phone started walking down on the sidewalk. 

I again started wildly waving my hands, knocking on the bottom area of the door, and shouting to get his attention. One of the children stopped him and pointed to me, and then I tried to explain to him through the thick glass door what had happened. Even though he probably couldn’t understand what I was saying he knew I was locked in and he held his hand up as to say wait, I will call for help, and started dialing on his cell phone. He no doubt knew the owner or one of his staff. 

After he finished talking, he held his hand up again and put his mouth close to the door and I could read his lips saying that the owner would be here in twenty minutes. It seemed like an eternity waiting for the owner to come back and let me out. My stomach was growling from hunger.

I mean here I was locked up and waiting in a copy and office supply store and I could be stealing and packing my bag with all kinds of supplies I need, white-outs, paper clips, rubber bands, paper, computer CD’s, everything, and all I was thinking on was “Food”?

Finally the owner showed up also with a big grin on his face. Why does everybody think this is funny?  “I thought you left, and the place was empty when I closed. Where were you?”  he asked still grinning. “I was in the restroom for about half a minute and when I got out everybody was gone. Do you know what I could have done to your place if I was a different person, a criminal?” I asked him irritated.   

“I could have raided your entire shop, stole all your office, and computer supplies, check your cash register and emptied it out if there was any money left in there”. (Unlike larger establishments  that are protected by high tech security systems, these smaller family owned businesses dont have such).

“Next time you better check everything before closing up, knock on the restroom door to make sure nobody is in there”,  I told him still irritated at the whole ordeal and his grinning at me.

“Yeah, you’re right” he agreed. It might not be so funny next time. And I was finally let out and got home safe. Now when I think back on the whole experience, I am the one that is having a good laugh.  

I hope that Shop owner learned a lesson, and so do any of you whom have a small business. Always check everything before closing, never know whom might get locked inside, and it could be a disaster for your business unlike this case.    

And for myself, I learned that some experiences in life either bring out the best or the worst in us, it is always good to have a good conscience and follow it.  And the next time I have to use a company’s restroom I will not wait until the last minute to go. 

So we all learn something from unusual experiences in life. Some of them provide another reason to have a good laugh at ourselves. 

Written by: (C) Glenda Brill 

In my last post I talked about what imagination is (see Fulfilling the Imagination). I used the examples of young couples having an imagined wedding idea, and how some have fulfilled that, and how my cousin brought Hawaii right to Queens New York, by transforming his backyard into an imaginative Hawaiian wedding. And it turned out great.

But we all have fantasies, imaginations or wishful thinking of other things we would like to do, places we want to travel to, or ideas that we may not be able to literally carry out now because of not having the finances, or circumstances.           

Most often this is one of the reasons some people suffer from depression or mental anguish. Unfulfilled desires, or wishful thinking leads to disappointments and mental confusion.  For instance some of us may be used to going on yearly big trips or vacations, and suffering anxiety by our wish or desire to be able to continue doing so.

A longing for a temporary changed environment, a nice place to go for a retreat is a boost to our well being and helps lift our spirits. We might now be unemployed, and having limited finances and feeling down and blue because we can’t afford to go anywhere.

If you still have a home or a place to live, try cheering yourself up by sampling your wishful thinking of being away in a different environment. Try changing some things around your home. Switch tables, chairs, lamps, and decorations around. Add some new cheery color to your walls if you can, and change your window treatments. Change the cushions on your chairs or sofa, or add new ones.  Change your bedroom color scheme, bed covering, pillow colors, and add new ones. 

Cushions or pillows are easy to make, just get some inexpensive fabric and stuff them with old socks, underwear’s or panty hoses, or cut up old clothes and make stuffing for cushions (that is what I use for stuffing, no need to buy any extra stuffing material if you can use old pieces of clothes or fabric at home). Buy some cheap scented candles and place them around. 

Go out for dinner in your own living room, or kitchen if that is where you eat. Prepare a special meal, decorate the table with a bright colored table cloth, put some flowers around and light some candles and have a candlelight dinner.

Put some also in your bathroom if you have the space to do so. If you are a married couple take turns serving each other breakfast in bed.  Okay, I can hear some of you saying this will remain wishful thinking and will only happen in the imagination. But right now you are trying to sample that wish and fulfill your imagined retreat of being away from home, so go ahead and try it.  Who knows this trial sample of a wish might lead to a better relationship if done on a regular basis.  

We could imagine being on an exotic vacation and fulfilling or sample that wish by just exploring a different part of the city or town where we live. We can learn a lot about the culture, food, and people of these exotic countries by reading and researching these places, and examining the foreign communities within our own towns or cities. 

There are so many people living in cities or towns that never take the time to visit or explore the places where they live. Most often there is a lot to see and learn that doesn’t require far travel at all.

 Especially here in New York, there are so many cultural groups of people, and nationalities from all over the world. Some have their own communities like little Italy, China town, Greek, Asian, East and West Indian communities, and so many others.  And just outside of New York, there is Pennsylvania Dutch, where people still live differently.

Sometimes I love just getting off at a different subway stop and discovering a new area of this  Big City. Exploring the cultural atmosphere, tasting the food, browsing the shops, admiring their art and the many different things people make in their own countries.  It is really like being in that part of the world even if not actually there in that country.

Or what about those of you whom are older and can still remember and might long to sample what it was like in the “Good Old Days” as they call them. Get some older friends together and keep an “Old Days Party”. Dress in the old-fashioned way, if you have a lawn, try cooking outdoors on stones. Find a old record player and play those older music hits, and dance to them.

Years ago a group of young friends and myself did this, we kept a “Older Day’s Party”. Everybody was dressed in long old-fashioned dresses, guys in suits and fake top hats, we played older music and danced to it, there were no cell phones around, we used candles for lighting, and we had a blast, so much laughter and fun.

So whatever your wishful thinking, or your imaginations are about this year, a big wedding, traveling to a exotic place, or back in time, being in different surroundings, buying a new house or car, or whatever, but don’t have the money, or the circumstances to do any of those things wished for, you don’t need to be depressed, and feeling sorry for yourself, you can find some inexpensive ways to sample those wishful thoughts, fulfill your imaginations right now by living in the preview of what you desire,  and still enjoy life inspite of whatever your circumstances dictate. 

( Read also: Finding Humor amidst Hard Times).

Written by Glenda Brill (C)