Your host: PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST
Dunkindonutscatering.com
Several years back I sat on a CTA bus. Across the aisle from me were two women — two I saw most days of the week as we commuted to our office jobs.
She Was In A Tizzy
Woman No. 1 was angry that day.
“I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts this morning,” she started.
“Mmm hmm,” Woman No. 2 nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“I ordered a sesame bagel for my breakfast,” Woman No. 1 went on. “Except when I went to the counter to look for it, they told me they’d mistakenly given away my bagel to another customer.
“And that’s when I wanted to kill someone!” she sputtered. She was clearly infuriated.
Woman No. 2 just nodded in agreement. .
I, meanwhile, wondered what could have brought on such a heated and bitter reaction. Not only that, but I wondered how Woman No. 2 seemed to immediately agree with Woman No. 1’s outrage.
A bit frightened at this unfolding, I shook my head and looked the other way.
To this day, I still think back to that funny episode, which I now refer to as the Sesame Bagel Lady Incident. I promised myself to never get to that point. Clearly, she was having a bad morning. Nowadays I can relate since menopause can cause unpredictable emotions. One minute you’re doin’ just fine and the next… well, one innocuous remark will set you off.
Silly stories like those can lighten my mood and morning commute. Yep, the Sesame Bagel Lady still makes me chuckle. When I find myself becoming irritable over innocuous events, I remind myself not to become the Sesame Bagel Lady.
Except these days I feel bad for laughing since there’s so much disturbing turmoil and death happening.
Today’s news spoke of a local incident, wherein an irate landlord accused his Muslim tenants for the controversy in Israel these past few weeks. The landlord stabbed the female tenant and her six-year-old son.
The mother is expected to survive.
Her son has died.
Let That Sink In For A Moment
This is the point of the story where many stop reading and try to catch their breath. Try to take it all in. Try to make sense of it all.
Except there isn’t any sensibility to be had.
This was done at the hands of someone who couldn’t control his anger.
His fear.
His irrational hatred.
This news is disturbing. In fact, there’s no adjective that could fully describe these horrific times. I stopped reading the news articles. I didn’t want to read any longer. Nor listen to a podcast. And surfing Pinterest was out.
Everything else seemed so silly and pointless. Because I wanted to focus on at least one of the many victims from this month. And today it was that little boy. He deserved that much. He deserved my tears and silence, while I sat on the train and stared out the window.
I watched the drab scene from my commute through the city. Train tracks. Box cars. Graffiti. A bit of morning sun defrosting the early morning chill.
The Morning Commute Must Go On
I opened my Dunkin app and ordered the usual: Medium iced coffee. Black.
Decided to add a sesame seed bagel. Untoasted. Cream cheese on the side.
Arriving at the Dunkin shop, I immediately noticed my iced coffee was made with cream. Lots of it.
I was agitated. “I ordered a black iced coffee, please,” I urged the cashier.
She took it back and made me a fresh one — no cream this time.
I finally arrived at my desk. Reaching into the Dunkin bag, I pulled out the sesame bagel. It was toasted dark and smothered with cream cheese, which by now turned warm and gooey, melting all over. Exactly not how I ordered it.
Frustrated, I tossed it in trash.
But in this crazy upset world, I was willing to let go of today’s sesame bagel hassle. Instead, I turned back to my keyboard and started my work.
Here’s wishing you all a good day…
Thank you for reading — PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST
PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST 