Calm

Some people remain calm (at least on the exterior) during a crisis and some folks can't. For some reason God decided I am one of the calm exterior folks and last Friday that was put to the test. First a little background, oh come on...you knew there would be a story! My good buddy, Debi, put her retired husband, Sid, to work at the aquarium and that was because while Deb was at work, attending meetings, dealing with idiots and all that good stuff Sid was sunning himself on the beach, going to the gym, golfing and well, you get the picture. Well Deb did what any good wife would do and she put a stop that that nonsense and put his butt back to work. Let me rephrase that...we were in need of a new mascot person so as it is known in the tourism industry, she slapped his butt into a puppet suit. So ole Sid was back to work...not full time but at least enough to keep Debi from smacking him upside the head everytime she saw his tan lines. WELL...our Director of Operations found out Sid is a retired electrician and he jerked Sid's butt out of the puppet suit and put him back to work as a "PART TIME" electrician. I don't know what part time hours are in other parts of the country but here in SC apparently they can hit 40 hours. All together now...POOR SID but the important factor here is Sid's tan lines were fading so Debi was much happier. Well, last Friday Sid was on a ladder working on a wiring project and met Mr. Electricity. Debi came running back up to our office and was trying to tell me Sid was hurt and the ambulance was about to take him to the hospital. The problem with that last sentence is Debi is not a "calm exterior" person and was hyperventilating so it was like listening to Lassie telling Grandpa that Timmy fell down an old mine shaft just past the Old Apple Orchard Road. This is how it went, "Sid....Sid..Sid...hurt...hurt..ambulance...hospital." Can you picture Lassie dancing around your feet and barking? Yep, that was exactly what it was like. So...it was quickly determined that I was driving (that happened when I snatched the car keys out of her hand) and we headed to the hospital. The ambulance arrived with sirens blaring and Sid was quickly evaluated, treated and is recovering from multiple painful injuries. Sid, it's been a long time since I have been that frightened. You have no idea how thankful your friends are that you are on the mend and by the way...the puppet suit is all cleaned, pressed and laid out for your next appearance. Your ginormous shoes have even been polished.
Now for the question of the day...are you a "calm exterior" or are you a "Lassie?"