The next decade....what's in store?
Musings of a yamfooted traveller still trying to shake off those last 20 pounds as she treks across the Caribbean
Went to see the movie 'No Reservations' tonight. Many similarities between the lead character and me. She - Kate - is a Chef whose life is thrown upside down when her sister dies and she has to look after the kid. She is single and very much into her career. She has all these rules about things....she doesn't eat during the day, she doesn't eat dessert and she doesn't drink on the job.
When she has to take some time off to adjust to life with the kid, the restaurant owner hires a Sous Chef who is a bit cooky and fun and off the cuff and spontaneous. Eventually, though the efforts of the kid, they hook up, but not without her rules coming up in everything.
I'm a bit anal-retentitive about certain things. Time keeping is one of them, and saying you are going to do something and not doing it is another. For example if you are talking to someone about plans for later and he says "I will call you" and he doesn't, that is a problem for me.
Because of her anal-retentitiveness about how her kitchen is to be run, the Sous Chef walks out of her kitchen and her life. She eventually realizes that she was being anal-retentive and goes to beg for him back. She had closed herself off from relationships for 3 - 4 years so this was a bit new to her.
As I started out by saying....many similarities between Kate and me.
It reminds me about what the young Customs Officer said to me on Friday when I came back from Barbados. He was waiting on the CSME stamp and he says "so what happen to your husband?" I was taken aback because he usually does not strike up a conversation like that. It's usually something like "how are you today". So I tell him that I don't have any, nor do I want any because oonu man is pure stress. He agreed to some extent, but also said the woman could be stress too.
He then asks me if it's because I am not looking. Yes, I reply. Then he said something which took me by surprise. "You must keep an open mind". After we ended the conversation, I asked him where the toilet was. On my way back from using it, he called out to me and said "Remember, keep an open mind!" I promised to.
So I will have No Reservations next time someone asks for my number to get to know me better. Well maybe not on the first meeting. I still want to keep that bit of anal-retentiveness about me!
You could never imagine anyone expressing gratitude for slavery, could you? Well a friend said this to me today and when I asked him why, this was his reponse.
"If it wasn't for slavery, I woulda been catching mah tail somewhere in Africa now. I'd probably have to be hiding from some warlord".
So, were it not for slavery, the seed that created Yamfoot could have been born in the Congo, or Ghana or Nigeria. Ever thought about that?
Speaking of which, I was showing a British lady around the hotel the other day. She knew I was from Jamrock. At the end of it, she said "but you have some British blood in you". Now I thought it was because she knew what my last name was and noted the similarity with that British name. No. That was not it. She said "you're very fair". I told her that lots of people in Jamaica look like me and that the British thing would have been from way back in the day.
...in other words, I'm still here. Just busy busy busy. Conducting lots of training. Sometimes 24 - 30 hours per week, sometimes less, plus there is the operation to get involved in.
Going to Bimshire on Friday for the day (for wuk), so that will be a break.