It is Going to Be a Good Day

It was bound to be a good day. Nothing is going to spoil such a perfect day as this. The sun was shining, it was Friday and payday. The early spring weather made way for robins and other birds. Flowers and some flowering trees were already decorating the town with their color.

 I grabbed a light jacket, bid my two greyhounds goodbye, and headed out the door humming, ‘Come Sail Away ‘by Styx. The darn tune has been stuck in my head all week. Yes, siree Bob it was going to be a good day. 

I got in my 2016 Black Kia, threw the jacket in the back, put the key in, and started the engine. Peering through the windshield I noticed a tiny nick. “Geez, really?” I said aloud. The windshield was just replaced last summer. However, I was not going to let this spoil my mood. I started backing down the driveway. Using the backup camera, I had installed after a three-level neck fusion so I could see without turning my head. 

Slowly, slowly. BUMP. Dang, what was that? Pulling further out of the driveway and into the road I discovered I ran over what appeared to be the first robin of our early spring. “Good gosh”, I muttered to myself, “what next?”

“Y'all are supposed to fly out of the way, not get hit”. Before I could open the car door one of the neighborhood strays grabbed the carcass as an opportunistic meal. OK, I thought, bad for the robin, good for the cat, it is still going to be a good day. 

I cautiously drove out of town. I wanted to enjoy the weather. Heading into the city of Roanoke. Virginia, I decided I would do some shopping at my favorite art store. I loved to paint outside in our backyard gazebo and so this weather had me itching for new art supplies. 

After an uneventful fifteen-minute drive to the Artarama, I parked the car in the parking lot and headed into the store. Much to my surprise there was a midweek sale on canvas and paint, so I blew my small tax refund on both, with enough left over for a quick lunch. I had a hankering for one of my favorites, an extra crispy, spicy chicken sandwich. A meal fitting for such a perfect day. 

I loaded the bags of various sizes of stretched canvas into the back of the car and just as I loaded the bag containing the 20 tubes of paint, I noticed a paint tube was leaking. Before I could say ‘Bob Ross’, phthalo blue was all over my dress jeans. Well at least the color was blue and so were the jeans, but the heavily pigmented color was not going to wash out. No matter it still was going to be a good day.

I hopped into the driver’s seat and went into the glove compartment for napkins to mop up some of the mess. Paint was getting everywhere, me, the seats of the car, even the back seat, and my jacket. Geez, Louise, I just bought that jacket, new, and now it was ruined. No matter, it still is going to be a good day. 

Next stop my favorite chicken place for a large unsweetened iced tea and an extra crispy, spicy chicken sandwich. “Welcome to Chicken World, how can I make you cluck today?”, said an all too cheery order taker. After giving my order, I was informed that they didn’t have unsweetened tea, just sweet tea. Ah, the south, I thought ‘Ok, I’ll take it’ she takes my name, I pay for it, and move slowly around the building to get my order. 

“Here you go, Catherine, have a great day.” 

“Um, my name is Christine.” 

“Oh, sorry but the car description matches your car, so this is your order.” 

“You do realize that there are probably four black Kias in this line”, I added. But he wasn’t hearing any of it. He had already closed the order widow and began talking to a colleague. Ignoring me altogether. 

I grab the food, toss the sack with the sandwich onto the front passenger seat, and put the drink in the cup holder. I park under the nearest flowering Magnolia tree and turn off the engine. I leave the radio on for company and open the sack. I inspected the wrapped sandwich. I am really thinking this isn’t what I ordered. 

I took a bite and it was not the extra crispy, spicy chicken sandwich I had my heart set on but a plain chicken filet. “Well, I am just going to eat and enjoy this along with my tea”, I muttered. Thinking to myself it was still going to be a good day. 

After eating the sandwich to blues tunes playing on the radio, I sucked down the tea. The taste wasn’t quite right. I looked at the label on the cup. The server had given me Mango Iced tea. Not sure how good a day it is about to be as I am highly allergic to Mango. I have no EpiPen or antihistamine with me. 

As my face begins to swell, I call 911 on my cell phone and barked out the location and what was happening. The paramedics arrived in no time as they were at the Starbucks, just down the street, getting a couple of iced Americanos. 

Gazing into the driver’s seat of the car, one of the paramedics quipped “Look at you, all blue and everything”. I gasped for air. They sunk an EpiPen into my thigh and put oxygen in my nose. As they loaded me into the ambulance, I can hear Styx playing, “Come Sail Away”. I then heard one say to the other, “looks like it is going to be a good day”.  

“Oh, just shut up”, I gasped through the oxygen mask. 

“Just shut up!” I feel defeated, covered in phthalo blue paint, and a new jacket ruined. I am swelling still a bit and can’t catch my breath. 

At that point, one of them dropped the stretcher and I hit the edge of the ambulance, with my head and I slip into unconsciousness. Somewhere “Come Sail Away” echoes its final strains. I could swear I hear one of the paramedics say, “damn, and here we thought it was going to be a good day.