 It’s great to have good days, where everything goes exactly the way we planned. But the bad days make for the best stories. This week on Romance Writers Weekly, I challenged our members to tell a real life story about something that went horribly awry, but now makes everyone laugh.
If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! First off, I'd like to wish my Mom a very happy birthday today! She's a woman of many talents (most of which I didn't get) with an adventurous spirit. And just because it is her birthday, I'm going to share one story about her that is legend in our family, before I get to my own. Sorry, Mom! Winter in Northern BC usually involves lots of snow and bright, clear days. Snowshoeing is a favourite pastime for my parents. One day a number of years ago they were trekking along a trail that ran next to a road. There had been a big snowfall the day before, and up ahead a snowplow was making its way toward them. For those of you not blessed (or cursed) with snowy winters, snowplows can be huge monsters of vehicles, and they travel quickly, pushing plumes of snow ten feet high or more onto the shoulders of the road as they roar past. My mom figured she would just stand under this plume, as it looked light and fluffy. My dad, at little further away from the road, turned his back and pulled his hood up over his head. When the plow had gone by and he faced forward again, all he could see was a figure lying flat on her back, snowshoes pointing to the sky, completely covered in snow. After he stopped laughing, he helped her up (it's very tricky to get to your feet wearing snowshoes!) and then they spent the next several minutes shaking snow out of everywhere – behind her glasses, down her coat, inside her boots. Upon reflection, they both realized how lucky she had been. There could have been rocks or other debris inside that plume that could have hurt her badly. But that doesn't stop us from laughing every time we think of this story! As for myself, one of the most humiliating events occurred when I was in Grade 12. It was the end of the year and we were having a pool party at a friend's house. I dove off the diving board, climbed out of the pool and stood back on the board to dive again. That was when I noticed various fingers pointing and heard shouts of laughter—and realized my bathing suit top had slipped down during my first dive and one boob was hanging out. I've never gotten into a pool faster than that moment. In hindsight, of course, this isn't nearly as awful as I thought as a seventeen-year old! But it still makes me squirm to think of it. The other bad-but-funny experience I had was when I had a severe allergic reaction to codeine. For years I had codeine for severe headaches. But this time, shortly after I'd taken the pills, my face started to tingle, my lips started to itch, and by the time we reached the hospital emergency my whole face was so swollen I couldn’t see. They hooked me to an IV full of Benedryl and my husband and I waited for it to take affect. The doctor—who I couldn't see, remember—had the most lovely Australian accent. I pictured a young, handsome surfer dude, and couldn't believe that he was seeing me with a head like a pumpkin. Talk about worst first impressions! It took hours for the swelling to go down, but when I could finally see again, the doctor came back to release me. I'm still not sure if I was relieved or disappointed to discover he was a short, balding man, and not the hunk I'd envisioned. He still had a lovely voice, though! Do you have any stories about bad days that you know look back on and laugh? Feel free to share in the comments below. Jenna Da Sie is next! I hope you hop on over and visit her here.
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