When life gives you lemons...

in

... make lemonade.  Sounds so trite, but this week, I had surgery - and normally, I would think that having surgery would be more lemon than lemonade.  But with the help of a good sense of humor - and a cousin that gave me some fun ways to think about things, I am happily drinking sweet LEMONADE. It all started with this video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viePZEoyS_A&hl=en&fs=1]

I sent the video to my cousin, Richard, who has had polyps on his chords cut off twice and he immediately told me i was bound for surgery - as my polyp was bigger than his (not what I wanted to hear).  When I went for my surgical consultation, the surgeon took all of 3.5 seconds to explain "surgery" - cut it off and you'll be fine.

That's when I realized I needed to begin looking at the bright side.  So far there have been two.

The first has been the observation that being mute has made me a better listener.  I'm much less inclined to chime in (interrupt) - and more willing to wait for someone to finish talking before responding.  I've been amazed in the last two days how intelligent people are - and that they often already know the pearls of information I so eagerly want to share with them.  I had no idea there were so many intelligent people in the world!

The second is a fascinating social experiment.  I'm sure you've all noticed that people speak loudly to the deaf and gesture wildly to get attention from blind people.  Today, I had the pleasure of experiencing what this feels like (and secretly laughing at how stupid people can be when they are trying to be sensitive).  Richard told me to walk around with a write-erase board - and prompte people with the questions they want to ask...  So i went to the post office to mail a package - and handed the clerk my board with the following:

  1. I cannot speak
  2. I need to mail this package to Israel - it needs to arrive by 11/1
  3. Please tell me the best way to do this

After weighing the package, she proceeded to point, whisper, and write on my board all the information she wanted me to know.   Somehow, she thought that she shouldnt talk when she was helping a mute person.  Actually...  tasted like lemonade.