Sitting in the waiting room of the hospital on the lake—no, not St. Joseph, the fancy one downtown—where the women have stylish haircuts and warm jackets which are not bulky. Expensive jackets are not bulky.
A couple comes into the waiting room. The woman is enormously overweight. Her face, which surely once belonged to another body, is young and pretty. She stands in front of the room and says loudly to no one in particular: “We are supposed to receive financial assistance.” There is no discussion. No embarrassment. Someone points them in the right direction.
Later they come back. There are no two chairs available next to each other. He sits down next to me. I look up and say, “I’d be happy to move so you can sit together.” He makes a hand gesture that is so Chicago, it brings tears to my eyes. (Tears well up easily when you are in the office of a specialist and you know he’s not going to say it’s all in your mind.) He places his hand below my eye level, in a flattened position, as if this is a private matter between the two of us, and moves it slowly back and forth. In Chicago this means, “no big deal, one way or another.”
She glares at him across the room, but she knows he is kidding.
Who is this woman?
Click on the photo to download a very short video about a woman who all knows how we feel in Chicago during the winter. Or, just click HERE.
once again nicole hits the jackpot. terrific blog. the woman looks familiar.
She does to me to, but I have no idea who she is. A friend sent me this. He didn’t know who she was either, just knew I would like it.
Wonderful, apt blog and video. But are you all right? There are gazillions of us who need you in our world. I hope whatever you and the doctor are dealing with is curable with no pain or discomfort. (Is there such a thing?)
Thanks Elizabeth. Don’t worry. I should have cut that part because it worries friends, but then it made no sense that I would be in a waiting room, unless I liked to hang out in hospital waiting rooms looking for interesting stories, which is a good idea in fact!
Sometimes hand gestures and pictures are the only way to say everything that words are difficult to get out.
Re: the woman in the photo. She must be French. Who else could look that good in this kind of weather? On the other hand, what would a Frenchie be doing in Chicago now anyway?
She’s got her lipstick on, walks briskly in sensible shoes and isn’t afraid of a hat. So far she is one of us. But then — that voice! She sounds like Suzanne Pleshette, and with a good writer too.
I wonder where she is. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find out?! Or would it damage her universality?
Okay, anyone who can identify this woman, please let me know. We could all invite her out for a dirty martini. Yes, I think she drinks dirty martinis.