The Day the Music Died

A long long time ago, I can still remember,

How that music used to make me smile..."

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"MY PHONE!

YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!

LOOK AT MY PHONE

YOU BROKE IT!"

She was pointing to her phone on the floor and at the same time hurling verbal abuse at me.

I was dumbstruck.

Not by the false accusation and the shouting- but by Her.

She had hit me in the place I least expected, my heart.

I was busy doing my weekly grocery shopping, and relaxing on a Sunday morning.

It was one of my favorite things to do as it took me away from the humdrum of my incredibly stressful job.

I was minding my own business, choosing my food for the week and staying out of other peoples' way.

While walking around the corner to the next grocery aisle, this woman, who was busy speed walking and at the same time typing on her phone, crashed into me, dropping her phone which smashed on the floor.

"Although injuries resulting from texting and driving are usually more serious, injuries resulting from texting and walking occur more often. This is according to a study by New York based Stoney Brook University – which revealed that distracted walkers often veer off course by as much as 61% while texting, live chatting, posting on Facebook or X, or even playing games on their mobile phones. What's more, the study found that the number of injuries caused by texting and walking may be higher than official figures indicate, since people are embarrassed to admit that they were injured while texting. The worst culprits, according to the research, are young people between the ages of 18 and 34 and also women aged 55 years and older. Bumping into walls, falling down the stairs, tripping over clutter and stepping into traffic are some of the causes of the injuries they sustain while texting and walking. According to another study published in Injury Prevention, people who text while walking took nearly two seconds longer than non-texters to cross three or four lanes of traffic. The study estimates that one in three people are distracted by mobile devices while crossing the street."

My very first glimpse of her and I was in AWE!

[When I Saw You by Mariah Carey]

"Hmmm...

Soft heavenly eyes gazed into me

Transcending space and time

And I was a rendered still

There were no words for me to find at all

Or as I stood there beside myself

I could see you and no one else

When I saw you

When I saw you

I could not breathe, I fell so deep

When I saw you"

Her soft heavenly eyes gazed into me, transcending all space and time – that was exactly how it felt.

And when I saw her – I knew I would never be the same again.

"Hello? Hello? Anybody home?"

She said, snapping me out of my trance.

"Uh, yes, sorry. I'm not sure how this is my fault though, as you were not looking where you were going as you were so busy on your phone."

"Thank you Sherlock! But you should have been aware of me! You have no excuse. At least I have one."

She replied angrily.

(Thanking someone as "Sherlock", as if, for solving some mystery or answering a tough question, was normally also meant ironically, and as if everyone else already knew that the answer was obvious: "Good job, Sherlock!)

Before I could think up a clever retort, she picked up what was left of her phone and marched off in the direction of the checkout counters.

I watched her as she went to the cashier, demanding attention as she arrived.

The manager soon came to greet her and she let rip on him with a barrage of verbal bullets.

I watched her hands flying all over the place and then she turned and pointed accusingly at me!

Everyone was looking in my direction, shaking their heads with disgusting looks on their faces.

After she left, I continued my shopping, a bit shaken up by the event. I was walking around in a trance.

She had left her indelible mark on me.

"There's a reason we speak of "good chemistry" when we refer to our connections with romantic partners. Various hormones, chemicals, and neurotransmitters are responsible for our growing romantic/sexual feelings. As these hormone levels increase in the body, you begin to realize you're physically attracted to the other person (with exceptions such as people on the asexual spectrum). And, of course, desire or lust can happen independent of attachment and without leading to love. Once we become attracted to someone, the reward centers in our brains begin to fire and release dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Simply being physically close to them causes a release of dopamine, which makes us feel rewarded.

The feelings of giddiness and euphoria are thanks to norepinephrine. When your heart races and your palms sweat, you can thank norepinephrine; it's even responsible for the sleepless nights and the lack of appetite we tend to experience when first falling in love."

I definitely had to find out more about her.

She had piqued my curiosity and my hormones!

[The Power of Love – Song by Huey Lewis and the News]

" The power of love is a curious thing

Make a one man weep, make another man sing

Change a hawk to a little white dove

More than a feeling, that's the power of love

Tougher than diamonds, rich like cream

Stronger and harder than a bad girl's dream

Make a bad one good, mm,

make a wrong one right

Power of love that keep you home at night

You don't need money, don't take fame

Don't need no credit card to ride this train

It's strong and it's sudden,

and it's cruel sometimes

But it might just save your life

That's the power of love

That's the power of love "

Love is strong and sudden and it most definitely can be cruel sometimes – I had experienced that in my life already.

So, I decided to use the same cashier as she did, with a plan to extract some information from the woman who had served her.

Before I got to the cashier, the manager stopped me in my tracks.

"Good Morning Sir," he said.

"Morning. How are you?" I replied.

"I was fine until one of our best customers came to me upset because you had broken her phone."

"Look, Sir, I'm a doctor and have to deal with angry and upset patients all the time. So I understand your job. The fact of the matter is that she collided with me while she was on her phone not looking where she was going!"

"I see," the young guy said, "please in future make sure to avoid walking into customers, whether they are on their phones or not."

And off he went, leaving me irritated.

He clearly was siding with his "best" customer

I gave my groceries for the cashier to scan and greeted her,

"Hi. How are you doing today?" I asked.

The cashier took one look at me and frowned,

"You! How could you break that poor woman's phone? Have you no shame?"

"I'm sorry but it was an accident. But maybe you could help me make things right with her by giving me her name and number?" I replied hoping like hell for a good reaction.

"Sir! Do you want me to break the stores' privacy policy and give you one of the store's best customer details to you? You could be a serial killer for all I know."

She was very angry.

(It was not the reaction I was hoping for)

"Ok I understand but I just wanted to see if I could make up for the unfortunate accident," I said meekly.

I quickly paid before she called security and they helped me on my way.

The entire journey back to my apartment I gave myself a good talking to,

"How could you let her out of your grasp? You know your history with women isn't the best and then you meet someone who you are attracted to, and you don't do anything to make the next move happen! What is wrong with you Nathan?"

The fact that I was speaking to myself meant there was a lot wrong with me!

But this was only my first encounter with her, and deep down inside I knew it wouldn't

be my last....

[Never tear us apart - Song by INXS]

"Don't ask me

What you know is true

Don't have to tell you

I love your precious heart

I

I was standing

You were there

Two worlds collided

And they could never tear us apart

We could live

For a thousand years

But if I hurt you

I'd make wine from your tears

I told you

That we could fly

'Cause we all have wings

But some of us don't know why

I was standing

You were there

Two worlds collided

And they could never ever tear us apart"

We were two worlds collided, shining through.

The question is would we be torn apart?

Extract from Kelly's Diary

Sunday, 17 March 2024

I woke up in a flat panic this morning.

I was catering at a big function today - a function involving one of my biggest customers.

I wasn't prepared at all!

I tried to plan my functions in advance but my days were full of fixing problems so it ended up that planning took a back seat.

Looking at my rough notes for the event, I realized that the food I needed was hopelessly insufficient.

So off to the shops I went for the umpteenth time this week.

Luckily the grocery shop I go to is close to me and they know me so well by now that the shopping experience is quick and easy.

I was breezing through the aisles, selecting the items I needed, when a message popped up on my phone from a client.

The client was very upset about the function I catered for yesterday and wanted urgent answers to complaints.

This seemed to be all I did - do a function and then put out the fires afterwards ..

As I was busy replying to the message, this guy walked slap bang into me, knocking my phone to the floor and breaking it into several pieces.

Obviously I was angry!

My phone was my life and now my upset client would not get their urgent reply.

So I gave him a piece of my mind.

But he just stood and stared at me, like it was the first time he had seen a female.

I didn't have time to waste so I picked up my phone and went to pay for the groceries I had managed to buy.

I had a more pressing need now and that was to get a new phone!

The manager stopped me on the way to the checkouts asking what happened.

I quickly described the incident and pointed to the guy - who was still standing there, rooted to the spot!

I paid and made my way to the closest phone shop to buy a new one.

What a day it was!

First an angry client, then a broken phone and lastly a function which was a complete and utter failure.

FML