tall ones.
short ones.
skinny ones too.
loud ones.
quiet ones.
maybe even you.
meet me, the restaurant manager.
i meet new faces everyday. i see some old ones too.
this past week i needed to be taught a thing or two. Ive been living a selfish concealed life apart from any real substance.
all caught up in the vanity.
worried so much about my clothes and body, about my face and social life, that i overlook a world full of beauty and opportunities. i met three individuals who have no idea how heavily they weigh on my mind, nor what power they hold in themselves.
#1
i was finishing up my shift. ready to go home, and wash the oily air off of my tired skin. i was on edge this day. worrying about nothing and futilely trying to figure it all out. the hostess sat me a table of three. thinking of my bed, i was reluctant to go to the table, i approached with a forced smile on my face. i greeted them, offered them drinks, the usual mumbo jumbo. i was answered with silence. the gentleman was deaf. i tried my best to interpret his ambidextrous voice, and eventually was easily able to read his lips, and figure out what he wanted. he placed his order and began to sign to his mother and father who knew it as well as he did. my focus kept returning to their table, fascinated, that a serious of bends and twists of a hand, could be so perfectly understood. they ate their food, thanked me, and left. unaware of their impact.
this man lived in a world of silence. surrounded by a noisy world, and immune to it all.
my life is music.
it is the vehicle to my soul. nothing else on earth can move me the way it does, or alter my moods quicker. to imagine it out of my life completely, is incomprehensible. i cannot imagine a world without it, but in this man's world it's been gone for quite some time.
#2
It was another busy day. people were starving, and awful thirsty, a deadly combination for any server. My patience was waining. i had just finished busing one of my tables when the cashier sat a table with three place settings. i neared the table only to find it empty of bodies. i looked around to see if they were still around, and if they planned on eating. deep down i was hoping they had left, giving me a much needed break. i found two of the three at the doors, holding them open for the third in their party. he was slow to enter the building, and i later saw why. he had loss the majority of control of in his legs. he was on crutches barely able to lift one foot in front of the other. every step seemed a mental, as well as physical strain. when he finally reached his table, he was out of breath, but beaming. happy to be with his two dear friends. i guessed his age around 26 or so. he greeted me with a smile, and in so doing caught me completely off guard. there was something is his eyes that was irrevocably placed. a light so bright i had to look away. this man knew something i didn't. his manners have yet been surpassed and the spirit he carried with him, touched everyone surrounding him. Upon finishing he thanked me again and made me promise him i would have a good rest of the day. With a smile he departed on his long journey to the car, his friends ahead eager to help.
i love to play sports. basketball, golf. football and bowling.
to run.
to longboard, swim in the ocean, and ride my bike.
running through the grass and playing with my little brother. without legs, or a full control of my body, many passions, would disappear. could i cope with the loss of them?
#3
perhaps the most powerful lesson of the three. i was sweeping up a pile of rouge croutons, who decided last second to ditch of a salad of mine, and make a break for freedom, when a strange tapping befuddled me. i glanced at the front doors, and saw a man with a long skinny stick, gently swinging in front of him, with his wife guiding him from the back. he wore no dark glasses, and stepped with unusual confidence. his hair was neatly combed and slightly faded, with only lingering bits of life's color clinging to it's edges.
Blind.
The two sat, and without skipping a beat, his wife began to read the menu. I cautiously neared the table, and greeted the two. the man smiled, looked in the direction of my voice and politely asked for a glass of water. His wife followed suit, and i left them alone, with the wife's voice listing the various burgers and salads to her husband, quietly fading behind me. i returned with two glasses of water and gently set them down on the table. the man's hands, weathered and worn, slowly reached out to find his glass. his fingers slid along the table surface slowly outstretched so as to not spill, or make any messes. he placed his hand around the glass took a long drink and set the glass back down upon the table. they both decided on ribs, and i departed, but not alone. the wife had asked for the restroom, and i guided her to them. a few minutes later the side salads appeared in the pick up window, and i began my trip to the table somewhat surprised that the man still sat alone. i slowly set them down and told the gentleman the remainder of his meal would be out shortly. he thanked me with a smile, folded his napkin and placed it on his lap, and there he sat.
waiting.
his wife had been in the restroom for quite sometime, and i was becoming anxious. i glanced at the table and there the gentleman sat.
tall and still, unaware of my gaze.
he wore a look of concern. he was looking to the last point of which he could hear his wife's high heels familiar click clak on concrete. the clock continued to pass the time, and my worry and concern grew and grew. the mans expression had gone from concern to that of loneliness.
although he could not see, he continued to look into the direction of his wife's fading steps. growing ever more anxious to hear her approach. i desperately searched the man's face for some sign of comfort, wondering whether or not i should go and reassure him, or check on his wife. My mind began cooking up scenarios. what if she had a heart attack? how will this man take care of himself? who will be there for him?
Seconds before my anxiety consumed me, the click clak returned, and his wife returned to his side. his eyes became gentle and confident again, and my hearts pounding slowly faded, and i allowed them to enjoy their meal without my constant stare. as they were about to leave, the man opened the car door for his wife, gave her a kiss on the cheek, she entered, and he closed her door. He proceeded to feel his way around the car all the way around to the passenger door. he entered, buckled his seat belt, and the two left.
these three men have impacted my life in a very real, and undoubtedly profound sense. I live a life of such luxury. i have everything i need, and want for nothing. the burdens i bare are a weight but of straw, compared to the burdens of those three.
"Some people are walking around with full use of their bodies, and they are more paralyzed than I am."
-Christopher Reeve
I'm an ungrateful spoiled brat sometimes. i have so many things i take for granted day to day, that i do not, and could not, even comprehend the absence of them.
Imagine, if one day, you woke up to silence.
Never hearing your children's laughter, the roar of the ocean, or your favorite song.
Imagine, if one day you woke up, and were unable to move.
Never able to walk down the aisle, run through the green grass, or hold your someone close.
Imagine, if one day you awoke to unquenchable darkness.
Never seeing the brilliant sun, your daughter's wedding dress, the magic of the stars.
I have eyes to see, legs to run, and ears to hear.
What more could i ask for? How is it, that we who have everything, want more. Some is never enough. More money, more freedom, nicer clothes, bigger houses.
These men had three extraordinary different outlooks on life, and i envy them for it.
The passion of my bones is but a drop in the raging sea of greed.
I learned that day, that i may not have everything, but i have so much more than many. My circumstances are skyscrapers above the ground of someone else's troubles. A new degree of gratitude has entered my heart.
I also learned that these three, have some of the strongest and enduring spirits today. That they are able to go day to day with their challenges.
Refusing to quit.
we throw in the towel after two or three petty problems appear. resigning our fate to doom instead of trying to overcome.
Being the nerd that i am, i placed a blindfold on my face, and attempted to take a shower. I managed to knock all of the shampoo off of the self, and hit my head on an open cupboard. i had to feel the bristles of my toothbrush just to line up the toothpaste, which would have been great it it were toothpaste, and not a face cream.
I've been blind to all the many blessings i have.
Deaf, to the cry of help and comfort for others.
And paralyzed in my own problems, not attempting to look to others who are worse off than I.
All I'm saying is, i think twice about complaining now. the little things don't bother me, because things could always be worse.
Christopher Michael
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