A patriot feels that it’s time we thought about our fellow beings, too. A couple fights over something for which the word stupid is an understatement. A birthday that got spoiled because of my hesitation. I’m on the dock this week. To find out how and why, read on…

Fred is getting better, thanks to all the good wishes from his family, friends and all you readers. He has been going out on walks in the evening, regaining his strength bit by bit. But these walks have already breathed fresh life in him. I went over to meet him for coffee after work. He wasn’t in then. I hung around for some time in a magazine store before I saw him come. He walked feebly, but he had the smile back on his face. He was delighted to see me and I had this feeling that he had been thinking about something along the way that he wanted to share with me. I was not wrong.

As we settled down, he asked me, “Have you noted people smile, Bob?” I looked up a little puzzled. I was expecting something different. “Well yeah, sometimes when they smile at me!” I replied. He looked amused. “That’s what I was thinking as well,” he told me thoughtfully, “we always note something when we have a personal interest in that.” I couldn’t disagree. He continued, “But what do we lose if we smile at a stranger on the subway or the newspaper boy or the pizza delivery guy? Is it a big thing?” I got his point. I replied, “We don’t stand to lose anything, Fred, except our false sense of ego.” He beamed to ascertain that he liked my answer.

Something really stupid happened to Rick and Kaitlin! They were out shopping at the mall. Now many of you know that Rick is a stud and he likes to try out his charm on women. And Kaitlin is strictly against it and this leads to bitter fights every now and then. At the mall, Rick was checking out this girl who took the stairs up to the next floor. Kaitlin had been noting that Rick’s eyes were following this girl. Kaitlin had also noted that the girl went up the stairs. Kaitlin asked Rick to wait for her while she got into a shop. This was Rick’s chance. He headed straight up in pursuit. He didn’t think that it was a trap Kaitlin laid out for him.

As soon as he was halfway up the stairs, Kaitlin came darting out of the shop she had sneaked in. Kaitlin called out to him and glared at him. Rick came down meekly. Kaitlin yelled at him for having taken the stairs to pursue the girl. Rick denied it vehemently. Kaitlin asked what he was doing up the stairs. Before Rick could respond, Kaitlin started his tirade about catching him red-handed. Rick asked her, “The girl was on the next floor, you say? But what does it have to do with me? How can you prove the stairs I took reached the next floor? I was only half-way!” Hearing such a stupid question, Kaitlin left in a huff. Last heard, Rick was sleeping on the couch!

Remember the Sunday gathering I told you about? If you missed that, you can read it here. Well, after assuring each other that this was not a flash in the pan and that we would keep in touch, things didn’t work out that way. I guess it never does. Everyone is busy in their lives and the pull of the daily chores isn’t something that you can resist for long. After that long session of exchanging phone numbers, we hardly get the time or make the effort to look into our contact list and make that call or text. We are all so content with our speed dialing numbers, we hardly look beyond.

Yes, you may argue that there are other modes, too. Social media sites are there, emails etc. Let’s be honest here, how many times have you send across a mail to that friend who has nothing to do with your daily life. We don’t. It cannot be done, however honest our intentions may be. So there it goes. We have not connected again since that Sunday. I was wondering what happened to everyone but I’m as guilty as them. I have been crazy busy and you know how the times are. Extra work. Extra pressure. Extra stress. We are all caged in our little boxes that move around with us and time has taken away the key.

Now for the big story of the week! It’s Sarah’s birthday on the first of October! I did a blunder on that. Sarah had invited me to her birthday treat. She also told me that two of her friends will be there. I was a little hesitant to go to her birthday party and meet her friends as well. I told her that I’ll meet her some other time. In the meantime, I had already bought something for her. I had no clue what was going on in her mind. Sarah was really upset that I refused. The next thing I heard is that Sarah has canceled her birthday celebrations and cooked up some excuse to her friends. I felt really bad that all of this happened because of me.

I’m at my wit’s end now. I really want her to have a special birthday. I had some plans made. The funny part is, after I told her that I can’t make it, I had changed my mind. I was also wondering if I can contact those friends of hers so that we can do something together. It all fell flat. I couldn’t convince her yet to change her mind and revert her plans. But celebration or not, I really wish her a wonderful birthday. It’s a great period for her and I hope things are always on the upswing for her. It would be nice if you all wished her in your hearts, too. You rock, Sarah!

The Zen quote for this week is for those numerous people like Sarah who have lousy birthdays for one reason or the other. A small pointer: I belong to this group, too! This one is a simple quote from Robert Orben: “The best birthdays of all are those that haven’t arrived yet.” We have hope there, don’t we?