Retro Music Friday.

More about the work situation and why it is currently kicking my ass.........

I have come to realize that there is perhaps little delineation between where my existence and some ( not all ) of my client's existences begin and end. I am so tied into their being-ness that it is as if we are all one in the same. In some instances, where there is little or no family involvement, I am their family. I make sure they have some place to go for Easter and have taken some of them home for holidays. Bought and wrapped their Christmas gifts and pre-planned their funerals with them. Sat in emergency rooms with them and calmed them when they are melting down. Clapped for them and encouraged them when they meet new challenges and picked up the pieces when things fall apart.

Don't misunderstand, I am in no way complaining. I am grateful for the experience of having these people in my life. I have learned many, many, many lessons during my times with them. Things that I would have never had the opportunity to learn anywhere else. I am so profoundly humbled that they place the amount of trust in me that they do.

But as I was saying, I am so tied to some of these folks that when one of them has a really bad week, I have a really bad week.

Like this week for example.........

One of my older clients...ok, who am I kidding here ? She's elderly. She old, old, old. And she has elderly problems. Take it from me, I've seen it up close and personal.....getting old is a bitch.

At any rate, I have been in the habit of taking this client's laundry to yet another client's apartment every week to get washed. She ( my old client ) is in an assisted living facility that has recently been taken over by another company who has decided to now charge for laundry service. And as my client is on a budget this was not a luxury she was going to be able to afford.

Of course I made the executive decision long ago that I would make alternate plans for her dirty laundry as the folks at the assisted living facility were doing a horrid job of it. I was getting really tired of continually tossing clothing that was stained beyond belief. Really, I could not in good conscience let her been seen in such a state. So I was ALWAYS buying her new shirts, pants, etc, etc, etc. So my boss and I decided that we would give another, younger and more independently functioning but largely unmotivated client a job. The younger client felt empowered by her new responsibility and ensuing income, I had clean clothing for my client. A win-win all around.

However I realized this week that the younger, laundry-washing client was in no way prepared, nor should she have been subjected to, the hell-spawn abomination that awaited me when I went to get the dirty clothing from my client's apartment.

Given that her closet was nearly empty, I had precious little time to return the bare necessities back to her. As I was taking an extra day off this week I had no other option but to take the steaming, reeking abomination in a laundry basket to my house to be washed. I really weighed all of my other options, but nothing else would have been feasible or would have fit my schedule.

I pulled into my driveway Tuesday night and The Mister ( because he is so freakin' awesome ) met me in the driveway to help me haul in the laundry - which filled the entire trunk of my Corolla. Upon my lifting of the trunk he stated;

" OH FUCK THAT SMELLS !!! " and then promptly pulled his Bruins hoodie up over his nose.

Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Of course I had been driving around all day with the putrid stench emanating from my trunk and after a while I started to think that it perhaps did not smell as badly as I had initially thought.

I guess I was wrong.

I steadfastly refused to bring the basket into my house. So I there I was Tuesday night in my backyard wading through what ended up being six loads of laundry with blue vinyl gloves on. The Mister was standing by,Bruins hoodie still pulled up over his nose, and now occasionally gagging.

I was suitably annoyed by the situation I found myself in. The Mister would occasionally punctuate my annoyance with;

" Man, they DO. NOT. pay you enough ! "

and

" You have a one-way ticket to heaven hon. "

and

" Christssake that is just WRONG ! "

I ended up tossing yet more clothing and other things. They just could not be saved. Some things had to go through the wash with hot water, Tide and Clorox twice.

Then as I was standing over the dryer at 11 PM that night I realized that if I was annoyed I could probably scarcely imagine what my client must have experienced to have her laundry end up that way.

Kind of an odd lesson in compassion.

But because I can see the humor in almost anything.........

Here is " Take My Breath Away " by Berlin.

I'm sure you all know this went along with the movie Top Gun. Which is one of my Mother's favorite flicks.

1986 - I was ten.

There you have it.

Have a nice weekend all !

XO

Bunny