Accosted

   This incident happened about 2 weeks ago, but I just hadn't had time to write about it. I was walking along the street in Ramat Gan (a suburb of Tel Aviv), when suddenly I heard someone muttering next to me, which at first I ignored. Suddenly I realized that a man was talking to me. He was yelling "AREN'T YOU AFRAID? PEOPLE NEED 5 JOBS TO STAY FISCAL, AREN'T YOU SCARED?"
   Apparently this barrage was brought on by the recent political climate. What amazed me was the assumptions he was making:
1) That I do not work
2) That my husband does not work
3) That my husband/sons do not (did not) serve in the army.

  What little tiny boxes of preconceived notions we pollute our minds with......

The Freedom of Being Thin

   I don't remember why I had arrived at the 92 bus stop at the shopping mall. Possibly I had been out "walking", and walking all the way home was a bit to much, or perhaps I had been shopping. But I do remember that I wanted to get home as quickly as possible. And as I approached the bus stop, the man sitting there commented "You just missed the bus; it left the stop as I was approaching the station about 3 minutes ago. "
   Now this bus runs every 20 minutes, so I understood that waiting at this stop would mean a 15 minute wait. But I had another option: a 7 minute walk away is the NEXT stop for the 92 bus, and one can also catch at that second stop, a #7 bus, which travels the same route as far as my house. So I decided to walk to the next stop, where I could catch either the next bus of the 92, or a #7 bus, whichever comes first. As I left I commented casually to the man that walking over to the next stop would increase the chances of not needing the 17 minute wait to the next 92. But I "knew" that he probably wouldn't do so....because he was extremely overweight.  A  prisoner of his body, he waited at the stop.
  I walked over to the next stop and caught a 7 bus which arrived moments after my arrival.

Awkward Encounters

    I've had a few awkward encounters lately.  The first was with a friend I haven't seen in a while- I saw her on the street, and enthusiastically greeted her, but her reaction was a bit lukewarm. Later I realized that she probably didn't recognize me (because of my weight loss), and was too busy racking her brains trying to figure out who I was.
   The second encounter was today with the mother of an older boy with Down syndrome from our town. I was on the bus, and as I went towards the back of the bus, I spotted her, and enthusiastically sat down. She was in awe over my weight loss, and after talking about that for a few moments, she asked "How's Ricki?"
  PAUSE
   "I guess you didn't hear"..(pause to let her hear that and maybe queses what is coming)..."Unfortunately Ricki died about ten months ago..."
   She, thankfully didn't fall over herself apologizing (I always DID like this lady... she is MUCH more "orthodox" than me, but she is one smart sensible lady).
    It is unbelievable that ten moths have passed already.....

Great Video

click HERE to go to video I posted about. (But there is a commercial preceding it)
This is a video about a photographer who likes to show those with special needs in a positive light.