Kevin The other day I got a Lyft to run some errands at one of the public works offices in town. It had been awhile since I got a Lyft, and also been awhile since I rode in a car, haha. The latter part doesn’t upset me all that bad for numerous reasons. I grabbed one of my reusable shopping bag kits I put together after I washed them out, and waited out in the front yard for the driver to show up.
No bus even serves that part of town, and with the way I’d been feeling lately, I didn’t feel safe riding my bike the 7-8 miles out there. It would’ve been the same before my weight loss, that’s for sure.
This didn’t take long at all. It was a Dodge Durango, in red. I had some trouble getting in and out, but that wasn’t their fault. I got in, and we headed toward the public works office location I had listed as the destination.
I will call the driver Pat. It’s not their real name, and I will use they/them pronouns to describe them out of respect for them, and to further obscure their identity. I will leave as many specifics out as possible for this same reason.
Pat and I talked about the neighborhood, and how we moved recently. Pat mentioned that they moved from Louisiana three months earlier. They had passed through town last winter, and from what they told me, they had a relative living in the area, and they decided to make plans to move here when things warmed up.
We also got to talking about the freaky weather we get here from time to time, including historic floods, ice storms, blizzards, and triple-digit heat indexes. We also talked about the architectural trends in buildings here in town, and Pat said they’d never even heard of a house built like this. Even their cemeteries are above ground back where they were living before they came here, they said.
I’d love to visit Louisiana someday. If I ever get the chance, I’m totally going during Mardi Gras just to be able to say I was there, haha.
The convo shifted to our upbringing, and we were roughly the same age. It’s come up a time or two on the blog that I like to go out and about when my day job and my family obligations allow. It’s sort of my way for making up for lost time, since we seldom went out and about when I was a kid.
Pat mentioned that their family was similar, but instead of family circumstances in my case, Pat’s family subscribed to worldviews that considered certain commonplace observances, events, and happenings as a moral failure, not correct, what have you.
Pat’s making up for lost time, and they mentioned having gone to the casino outside of town several times. I’ve never been there, and have no plans to go. It’s close to an amusement park, and for shyts and giggles, I walked over there after I left the amusement park to check it out. The guy at the door wouldn’t even let me in, and I’m sure the dress I had on from the OshKosh store over my swimsuit probably didn’t help my case any, haha.
No worries, though. That place reeks of ciggie smoke anyway, and I could smell it from the walkway when the doors opened. Barf!
Pat and I also got to talking about weight, and how they had reached a point with themselves where they were essentially in a life or death situation with their weight in their quest for making up for what they missed out on years before.
I have nothing but compassion for people struggling with their weight. I’ve been down that road before myself, and I still remember how I felt. I’ll never forget it, either.
I told Pat what I tell everyone else who talks to me about where they’re at, and about their history of trying to lose weight only to not succeed in getting where they wanted to be.
We didn’t get to where we’re at overnight, and we’re not gonna get out of it overnight. More importantly, this won’t happen in a straightforward process.
There will be hiccups along the way. I had my share of them myself when I was losing the weight. As long as the overall trend is downward, that’s what counts.
That’s what I learned to focus on, instead of the daily short-term fluctuations, and also the monthly fluctuations that go with the territory for us vag-havers like yours truly. I may get into this in another post down the road, if I see enough of an interest in it.
In any case, we got to the destination, and we parted ways. I still think about Pat, and I hope that this time around, they find a long-term, sustainable way to meet their goals. I hope the same for you if you’re in the same place.
