JOELLE’S TALES: FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH #TMAT120 #WRITING #PROMPT FOR AUGUST 1, 2019
PLEASE participate
It’s not like I’m asking you to have a cow colonoscopy.
TELL ME A TALE IN (EXACTLY) 120 WORDS
Welcome to AUGUST 1!
Today’s prompt is: Where was the last place you traveled to, and why?
So that you don’t feel so alone in your embarrassment, I’ll share a vignette with you:
<_><_><_>
California: Where all the ghosts of Don Quixote’s past go to die.
My last travel destination was no vacation.
I need new glasses. Every time I think I’ll get around to making an appointment, something happens.
January it was gastroparesis.
In April I had a mystery disease.
Then there was the last week of June.
My daughter called, frantic that her aunt was in the hospital. The kids offered to buy my plane ticket if I’d go to California.
The entire trip was avoidable. Her doctor made a mistake with her medication and she had a bad reaction.
I was there for two weeks while she recovered, then flew home. The migraine brought on by airports and pressurized planes is gone, and I can almost see my desk again at work. Almost.
Here are the rules:
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A prompt for #TMAT120 will be given the first Thursday of every month. The prompt challenge begins whenever it’s that day in your time zone. It ends on the 1st Thursday of the next month.
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Copy and paste your 120 word entry into the reply section below, along with a link to your blog. To me, everyone who enters is a winner, but if you must have a winner, the entry with the most likes wins.
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Limit your #TMAT120 post to 120 words. People who participate in limited-word prompts aren’t expecting a 1,000 word explanation before it begins.
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When/if you publish your entry on your blog, use the #TMAT120 picture to show that you are participating in the prompt. Please don’t alter (except for size).
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Please don’t use hard-core curse words. They’ll be edited out if you do, and you might not like the words I choose to replace them with. 🙂
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Take time to read other people’s #TMAT120 & their posts, after all you might make a new friend.
© Joelle LeGendre Joelle’s tales: Tell me a tale in 120 words
I know there is nothing lurking in the dark, hiding in my closet or under my bed. I walk with confidence to the bathroom without lights on because there is no such thing as monsters. No such thing as unnatural animals with large teeth and claws, breathing quietly beneath the hum of my fan, leaving pools of drool for me to slip in.
No. That wet spot on the floor is from my unseen dog.
Paws tap along floorboards as he walks to his musky smelling bed.
The scraping of nails on wood is not the sound of monsters clawing their way through my closet.
The chill of evening air tightens my skin with goosebumps, not the feeling of fear.
I know there is nothing lurking in the dark, hiding in my closet or under my bed. I walk with confidence to the bathroom without lights on because there is no such thing as monsters. No such thing as unnatural animals with large teeth and claws, breathing quietly beneath the hum of my fan, leaving pools of drool for me to slip in.
No. That wet spot on the floor is from my unseen dog.
Paws tap along floorboards as he walks to his musky smelling bed.
The scraping of nails on wood is not the sound of monsters clawing their way through my closet.
The chill of evening air tightens my skin with goosebumps, not the feeling of fear.
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The question was about where the last place is that you traveled and why. I suppose that traveling through darkness and fear could be considered a short trip. Good to know you took your doggie along with you.
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Oops. Guess I missed the prompt after reading the list of rules. Sorry.
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No worries. 🙂
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Brother, help me please.
Brother, I need to feel. I need my soul to weep.
I need to cry for my fellow man. I need to feel his pain.
I need to understand why we are so filled with fear.
I need to speak out for the downtrodden.
I need to love more.
I need to put my fear aside.
Brother, help me.
Brother, lift me up.
I need to see things clearly.
I need this fear in my soul to go away.
Brother, reach in and take this fear.
Brother, throw it away.
Brother, please, please help me.
I need to love.
I need to be loved.
I need to belong.
Brother, take me in.
Brother, I love you.
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Thanks for your contribution. The prompt for this month is: Where was the last place you traveled to, and why? You traveled to a place inside you that most people will not go.
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I only saw “Give me 120 words.” And thought, “No problem.” I should have read the fine print. Even though there wasn’t any fine print.
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No worries.
If I had $1 for every time I’ve done the same thing, I could pay to go to the world’s finest restaurant and order the most expensive thing on the menu — plus the first class plane ticket to get there. 🙂
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Now that would be a round trip of 83.4 miles for a mobility assessment.
The squirt in a skirt had no medical experience or knowledge, and a tick list on her computer that when we tried to embroider our responses, threw her completely.
Hubby was bombed on pain meds for the trip, fell asleep in the waiting area, and the assessor didn’t ask a single question as to why he was eligible for mobility allowance in the first place.
He could pinch his forefinger and thumb together, touch his toes whilst sitting down, and leaning on a table could stand on tiptoe.
That’s enough to take him off the register and we’re just waiting for confirmation.
Then we going to appeal.
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I thought I’d replied yesterday, but it looks like it didn’t go through.
It seems that it would have been more cost effective to put the checklist on-line and having you fill it out on-line. then there would be no need for the company to pay someone with no knowledge to sit and ask you questions. After all, in order to get the mobility assessment, a doctor had to suspect a problem. How can someone who is not licensed and certified as an OT or PT do any of the testing? One can only hope that, in itself, is reason to throw out negative results.
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Want a laugh? We’d already filled out their 40 page questionnaire and backed it up with consultant and specialist letters. It’s a bloody farce and causes added stress and pressure to people who don’t deserve it . Meanwhile we wait and worry about the outcome.
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I’d like a laugh but can find nothing at all funny about causing distress to people in need of simple accommodations by creating obstacles to a request for what has been determined by health care specialists to be needed.
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It just goes to show how absurd and ridiculous it all is Joelle. We are luckier than many but it’s discrimination against the weakest who cannot fight back.
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Agreed.
Ageism is another of those things that seems to be ignored. I work in a field that hires people over 60 who have the right skills. They understand that many of the 20-somethings might work a few months and then quit because they expect their jobs to revolve around their lifestyles. The older generation knows what it means to be responsible and to do the best job possible for an employer. Yet the likelihood of someone over the age of 60 getting a job s/he is capable of doing is slim.
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You’re right. Age is a contender too.
I have no paper qualifications (3 ‘O’ levels), but have over 25 years banking experience and have also done credit control, purchase ledger, costing, accounts, stock taking,cash machine operator, financial analysis, working at the dog track and two little jobs since I retired as a kennel maid and cashier in a car museum! When I was made redundant in 2001 (I was 45) no-one wanted to hire me even though I wanted to work, full or part time, it didn’t matter, but excuses ranged from couldn’t match my final salary (I never asked for it to), I had too much experience, and my favourite from a temp company, I was the wrong shape!
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In the US, if it’s a job that doesn’t require a specific physical attribute (like modeling and acting) you have to choose the person with the best qualifications for the job. If someone said you were the wrong shape, that;s a huge no-no. Problem is that even though recordings are usually taken at interviews (to prevent frivolous charges), sometimes it’s just written notes and it’s your word against an employers.
Each interview has the same questions, especially if it’s a large company and there are 100 or more people wanting the same job. At least 3 will have top qualifications. It’s very hard to prove that the cute, perky redhead in the short skirt was coached on how to answer the questions and had a piece of paper in front of her for reference. As you know, if someone wants a candidate badly enough, they’ll find a way.
Many years ago, I was working for the state (not Florida) and was going for a promotion. I made the top score for that specific job. The heads of that office wanted someone else, but she made the 2nd highest score. They started trying to write me up for every little thing so they could get rid of me. I found another job in another state instead.
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I’m glad I’m out of the job market now as it’s doubtful I could sit at a desk for long hours and my hands make it difficult to hold a pen to write anything.
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Sometimes, that’s best. I thought I’d love retirement, but it was 2 of the longest months of my life. I was so happy when I was asked if I wanted my job back. When asked how long I wanted to work, my answer was, “Until I die.”
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Here is my trip:
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Love it. One of my favorite types, too.
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Here goes my trip!
Before commencing the ascent, the driver gently nursed the bus to a halt at a truck layby. “We are going to begin the climb to Cameron Highlands. All those who have prior experience with motion sickness are hereby urged to procure Eco bags at a cost of Ringgit Malaysia (“RM”)0.50 each. If you choose not to, but consequently dirty the bus, the culprit would need to bear the cleaning charges of RM 30.” With this dire warning delivered with a causal tone bordering on the nonchalance, the driver waited for the faint hearted in his bus. With none volunteering, he calmly went back to his seat and proceeded to navigate the bus around dizzying lot of hairpin bends. No puke.
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Wow! Reminds me of jumping off a cliff strapped to a French guy to try paraponte. Loved it! I suppose if I had my glasses on at the time and could actually see the cliff closing in on us 4 feet away, I might not have been so calm. But I’d do it again!
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Sounds hair raising!
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