What Hail's Got (page 2)

I convinced myself long ago there was something more in life.  This assault on the mundane realities I walk around in has affected me in quite a number of ways.  But the greatest way it's moved me is by making me pursue that something I do not even know how to explain or put words to or title.

The mundane I walk around in takes me from "princess shifts" at work, which is a way of saying, "Come in. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or maybe make a latte. Talk with those friends you only ever see when you're clocked in.  Help feed the public's legal addictions of caffeine and sugar.  Sweep a floor. Laugh.  Get paid.  And go home four hours later."

Then it takes me to staying up late at Blue Blinds because what else is a 20-something meant to do, that is legal I might add, in a small town offering summer thrills by way  of Plimoth Plantation, the Mayflower II, and a rock, a semi-massive-because-I'm-being-generous-with-the-description slab of stone with the inscription 1620, which is normally covered by coins because, and I would bet you anything, the rock holds magical wishing powers just like a genie.  So of course I'd choose a 24-hour bakery and drive home at 1:30 in the morning.

Then the mundane ushers me to press repeat on some mystical discman - who carries those around any more? - controlling time so that these events are relived in different tones, different clothes, with different friends, hair, and all the works. Well, somewhere along the way I started noticing I go about the same routine.  If I can take a guess there might be a few things going through your head right now:

A: "Wow, this guy is boring."  I'll oppose that thought for reputation's sake and give you a random view of the past year...

• In March 2008, my senior year at UMass, I got invited back to a church in England I attended while studying abroad and was given an interview for a Youth Worker position. I would later never fill that position.
  
• I left a 4-year job abruptly.(Distraught. To be nice.)
  
• Graduated college.(Elated.)
  
• Held a girl in my arms after she arrived from a 7-hour flight taking her over 3,000 miles for her taking a chance on an American boy.(Unannounced love.)
• Attempted traveling to England to take up that Youth Worker position...(Excited.)
• Got detained...(Confused.)
• Got searched so nothing was private any longer...(Speechless.)
• Got frisked...(Nervous.)
• Got wanded-down...(More nervous.)
• Got led into a secure room after the immigration officer swiped her badge, entered her code, and got buzzed in by security...(Umm...nervous some more and a bit confused.)
• Got interrogated in a proper movie-esk room: one metal table, one hanging light above it, two metal chairs - chained down mind you - surrounded by barbed-wire glass and a wall that's easily alarmed...("Breath Greg, breathe.")
• Got finger printed, photographed, and slept on a chair for eight hours. (Exhausted.)
• Got denied entry, escorted back to a plane the next morning, flown to D.C. and not Boston, then never rendered my passport for the freak chance of the plane having to divert back to Heathrow and my sneaking through the border because I'm that devious 23-year-old-want-to-take-over-the-world-type.  Right.  Remember, I haven't even snuck into a movie.  And they're concerned I will pull a quick one on them and get into their country.  That's a laugh.
• Then on January 9th, 2009 after having our own box at the Royal Albert Hall - think Pretty Woman - for Cirque du Soleil, I went for a walk in Hyde Park with my beautiful sweetheart, got down on one knee under a weeping willow, nervously asked and semi-slurred that famous question.  The rest is history as they say.
• I was given the worst news of my life of February 20th.  "Cancer."
• Just after my 24th birthday on July 28th I officially beat cancer and God was faithful for the umpteenth time.

Okay, in the grand scheme of history, my story's still not Top 10 worthy.  So, sorry for the giant digression.  And something to note too, just cause I found out, "umpteenth" is a word in the dictionary.

B: "He's way downplaying the joys and conveniences of routine-driven life."  Maybe.  I also admit that routines are great at times, but we must be modest with our scheduling.  I don't want to get to the end of my life and say, "I have not yet lived."  So please, leave time to be spontaneous.  Go swimming with all your clothes on even if you're wearing a tux or cocktail dress.  Have a dance party in your car even if you're stuck at stop lights offering a crowd of people to view your antics. Imagine if they started dancing.  Imagine if they even smiled.  Then you may say you lived today to the full.

C: "It seems like we're practically the same brotha."

The third thought is where I'd guess most people are at...(Suspense.)