Almost my First Meltdown

My apartment came furnished, but lacked the personal items (sheets, towells, plates, silverware, etc). Luckily, I live in a mall, so my agent showed the stores where I would need to look to find what I needed. I was able to find most of what I neeed, with the exception of sheets and a pillow. After searching through every nook and cranny of all 200 stores, I found a sheet set at one of the little stands (still no pillow) so it looked like the problem was solved (although the rose pattern on the sheets really didn't go with my decorating plan). The girl working in the stand was trying to explain to me what came in the package of sheets, but I didn't play very much attention because everyone knows what comes with a set of sheets (a fitted sheet, a top sheet, and two pillow cases).


(As an Aside- Internet Radio is the best. I am sitting here listening to "Green Grass and High Tides" by the Outlaws on Radioio. Sophomore year at UCSB all over again! Still the best guitar ever put on vinyl!!)

When I got up to my room I was pleased when the "fitted sheet" actually fit, but was surprised to discover two pillow cases and no top sheet. I ran back downstairs and told her I was missing my sheet and she told me that it was only a three piece set and she had no other sheets. By this time I had exceeded my shopping quota for the month and I I walked away wondering "how and I going to sleep without a sheet?" I thought "you can get a damn sheet and any ****ing Walmart in America!!!". Clearly, the fact that I was missing Walmart meant that it was time for Mark to take a time out.

I learned two valuable lessons. First, I came over to get experiences in how other people live. In my land of AC, of course you need a top sheet because it gets too cold at night. Here where most people probably don't have AC maybe they don't use a sheet while sleeping (Obviously, asking the shy Muslim-Malay girls working in the shops what types of sheets they use is probably a really bad idea, so I guess I will never know). Amazingly, I have slept great two nights without a sheet. Second, I have learned because of language difficulties and culture differences I needed to pay special attention to listen to what people are really saying and not what I think that they should be saying. Just because we are both using "English" words doesn't mean that we are communicating. I hope I remember this when I start teaching.

Happy Ending- I have found a pillow and virtually everything else that I need (still missing that sheet!) so all is good.