How to judge a day

Today I almost got run over by a car.  As I listened to Bon Jovi sing "Blind Love" on my phone and stepped into the crosswalk, which had turned to a "walk" sign several seconds earlier, I noticed a town car approaching from my right, going far too fast to stop.  Just in time, I bolted out if its way as it sped through the intersection.  I glanced at the driver as he sped by me and saw a distinguished-looking older man in a suit who never once looked at me or showed any signs of realizing or caring that he'd almost killed me.  This left me thinking that A. the title of the song I was listening to was 50% appropriate, B. it's a good thing I never get lost in thought when I'm walking in the city or I'd be dead, and C. I wrote this scene in the book I'm writing months ago, complete with the Bon Jovi song, so either I listen to Bon Jovi too much or else I'm writing a book about myself in the future and have the superpower of making things come true by writing them down.

Fifteen minutes later, as I settled into the car with the rest of my team at work (to head out to a school), I realized I'd forgotten some paperwork, so I ran back upstairs to the office to get it.

Then as we pulled away from the curb, I realized my bag had a hole in it, and at some point I'd lost my granola bar and box of raisins and Bit-O-Honey piece through the hole (yes, I pack my snacks like I'm a second grader), and that made me sad.

Then I had a conversation with one of the other women about how we both hate this sunny weather because we burn so easily.  I made the comment that no matter how much sunscreen I slather on myself, my collarbone always takes one look at the sun and just forfeits and turns red instantaneously.  (This is called foreshadowing.)

Then I thought I'd left a green folder with paperwork at the office just like I'd left the paperwork that I'd had to run back up to grab there, but it turned out the green folder was just hiding in another folder.  (Here's another example of foreshadowing.)

Then the kids at the school we went to screamed and yelled and asked, "Why can't we talk?" and called their teachers by their first names.

Then we got in a traffic jam on the way back and I was stuck in the sun and felt carsick.

Then the driver almost accidentally got on the bridge back to the outer boroughs after we'd finally made it to Manhattan.

Then we had to make a pit stop and the driver had the wrong address and got all turned around and we added 15 minutes to our trip... and almost got on the bridge back to the outer boroughs again.

Then I got back to the office and couldn't find the green folder with all the paperwork again... but it wasn't in any of the other folders this time.  It was back at the school we visited.  And it had notes on the front of it about all those screaming children.  And I was pretty sure our contact at the school had that folder now.  With the notes.  About how poorly behaved her children were.  Fortunately I have a very nice boss who didn't fire me.

Then I realized my bracelet (which I made myself from jute my mom gave me and is sort of an adult version of a comfort blanket) had fallen off at some point.

Then I had a ballet class where a woman was wheezing really loudly for the entire hour and a half, and it reminded me of my numerous lung infections and almost made me have a panic attack because I felt like it was happening to me rather than to her.

And then I looked in the mirror and realized my sunscreen-slathered collarbone is all red and my eyes are bloodshot from the sun and I'm sunburned despite wearing sleeves and covering myself, because apparently the Romanian and Native American heritage in me has ceded all their skin territory to the British.

So was it a bad day?  Well, I didn't get run over by that car this morning.  And I didn't get fired.  And I'm not the one wheezing and lung-rattling. And I still have two and a half hours to write five pages (that I guess I have to be careful with now because apparently they have the power to come true) before my fiancé gets home, and I have the sweetest little furry cat next to me who smiles and gives hugs. So I say today is a success.