Caroline, Chicago, IL
I am a pretty tough person. I can handle conflict, I am a good negotiator and with the proper mental preparation, I can endure most things. However, if there is one thing that totally breaks me, it is reliance on inefficient bureaucracy. And, although it is only March 1, I have experienced a few of my worst-ever nightmares this year.
In January, my first episode was due to efforts to replace a lost car title needed to trade in our old car for a new one. Without getting in to all the ugly details, I will just say that the ordeal involved four trips to the Secretary of State, repeated misinformation and hundreds of dollars. Finally, it ended in a complete, sniveling breakdown at the counter in front of my comrade Joan. She is a gray-haired, gum chomping veteran of the Secretary of State office who offered me her box of tissues, ripped up my previous forms and hoarsely whispered, “We are going to do this the Joan way,” which proved successful in a matter of minutes.
Today, I found myself at the Department of State trying to secure a new, emergency passport since my application seems to be lost in the U.S. mail and I am leaving for Mexico in two days. The past day has been filled with hours on the phone listening to bad hold music, begging, pleading, crying, panic and finally a four hour trek in the pouring, cold rain to the Chicago Department of State where I paid hundreds more dollars and did finally receive a replacement passport.
After leaving the office, as I descended down into the dank, stinky train station, I spotted the familiar glow of an express Dunkin Donuts station. Without hesitation, I approached and bought myself two donuts. Donuts are not a food that is usually described as “restorative.” But, for me, gobbling them down without an ounce of guilt and with complete entitlement puts me right back in the saddle of life.
As I write this, I feel a pang of guilt as I consider the millions of people in the world suffering hunger, war and poverty. And here I am writing on the internet that my biggest frustrations stem from the bureaucracy of one of the more developed nations. But, I suppose problems in our lives are relative. And, telling the story of my relatively insignificant problems is cathartic…along with the consumption of those two donuts.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 am
though not NEARly as stressful as your day was..i also had a two donut day! i always regret it…and yet…stopping at one is just impossible it seems.
cheers to you (imaginary donut in hand to toast you!)
:)
enJOY mexico (which area??)
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 am
That sounds awful. Donuts make me feel better, too. Have fun in Mexico!! Enjoy the warm weather. Hopefully our weather here will have straightened itself out by the time you return.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Donuts cure all ills except, of course, those caused by donuts.
But no chocolate glazed? The Dunkin Donuts chocolate glazed donut is the best donut in the world!
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Well, problems are always quite relative and bureocracy can wear down even the toughest of us. If one doesn´t eat a few donuts on moments like that, I don´t know when then.
I´m gonna echo Jennifer´s question, where in Mexico are you going?
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:40 pm
there’s no question the situation called for a couple of donuts. if only they had been of the more delicious, homemade-y, less-trans-fat-laden variety, though! once, crazily stressed before a job interview i ducked into the nearest starbucks and had a vanilla fappuccino and a coffee cake! vile but so satisfying.
March 3rd, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Thanks for your comments and good wishes. We are off to Cozumel to scuba, snorkel, swim and sleep sleep sleep!
Aoife - thanks for the 5 things tag… I will see if I can get to it tonight before leaving otherwise, I can ponder my 5 things while lying on the beach
Johanna - I do think a more homemade-y donut would have been better but from your Starbucks experience, you understand that often proximity rules all when in need of fattening things!
March 4th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Is it wrong to eat 2 donuts when you aren’t having a bad day?
That was me yesterday…
There is nothing like some fried dough to make everything seem right again.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
[…] I admit that food experience isn’t always about external factors. Some of the best tasting bites of banana cream pie may come with the upper half of your body in the refrigerator at midnight. And reactive eating, like two donuts on a bad day, can cure many ills. But, I had a bit of an epiphany last week when I realized that my all time best food experiences are when the food and drink are added punctuation on an already wonderful moment in my life. […]