Tuning Up for Pastries

A girl who works in my dentist’s office was afraid to go to restaurants that had an A in the window because she thought the A meant that terrorists ate there. A for Al Quaida? (In case it’s different where you live, the Health Department issues an A to restaurants that pass their inspections.) The same girl’s boyfriend wanted to see a sunrise over the ocean, so she took him early one morning to Newport (California, not Rhode Island).

This was my first time at this dentist. I wondered about his competence, employing someone as clueless as this girl. Should I leave and face French pastries with a sensitive tooth and a missing filling?

At our age, Mary and I need to be tuned up before we go. My chiropractor is re-sitting my head onto my neck and putting my spine back where it should be. The dermatologist is checking out a spot on my nose that may or may not – you know. Mary is seeing the podiatrist for a corn on her right foot.

We want to be able to walk and eat and ogle easily.

In 1961 we didn’t worry about our health. Who would, at 22? But we had two accidents in France with our Lambretta motorscooter that led to discovering the benefits of universal healthcare. Mary was driving; I was on the back. It was raining both times and the scooter skidded, tipping over and cutting Mary’s leg as she leaped out of the way. Each time, concerned onlookers helped us to the nearest first aid station (or clinic or whatever) where she got inspected and bandaged at no charge. WHO (World Health Organization) ranks France #1 for healthcare.

When my youngest daughter’s babysitter went to Rome for a Catholic holiday, she slipped outside the Vatican and broke her hip. She was well taken care of. WHO ranks Italy at #2.

I think about those generous countries where a poor person is treated with as much respect as a rich person; where all contribute part of their wages to healthcare so everyone can benefit. Not so, here, where tens of thousands quit AARP because it lobbied for a wider healthcare plan for all.

Leaving the dentist’s office, pleased at how brave I had been, and happy that he did a good job, I was less happy to leave behind $222. (That still beats the $20,000 I had to pay when, at 64-3/4 years and uninsured, I had two stents put into a coronary artery.)

Bring on the pastries!

But what about the A in the window that kept the girl from going into the restaurant? Look for them, search them out, and enjoy Approved delights.

Drowning Standing Up

The coldest and wettest I have ever been was when we were hitchhiking in the Loire Valley in November 1961.

We were given a ride by a young man who started out friendly, but then got too amorous.

Here’s what I wrote: “He pleaded that since it was getting so late and so dark we’d have trouble getting another ride, but if we would let him share our hotel room, he’d drive us all the way, anywhere, himself. He probably would have, but we ended the ride on the banks of the Loire. There was no town or village nearby, just the river and the road and us.

“It was then five o‘clock, two hours’ travel to anywhere at all, plus it was raining again and getting dark. Up the road a half mile was a small combination inn and gas station that turned out to be home base for the coldest, wettest, most miserable fifty minutes I have ever spent! It didn’t help that my coat wasn’t waterproof or that the wind was icy, or that only a single light was on in the inn with no-one inside.

“Hope flickered each time headlights flashed through the rain. We waved, jumped up and down, looked pitiful, but either they didn’t see us in time or didn’t want the company of our misery. Mary even took to waving a dainty lace handkerchief. No luck. I wondered what the authorities would do with the bodies of two soggy young girls who had drowned standing up.

“Finally, a Knight in Shining Armor riding a Snow White Charger rescued us! He was actually driving a huge warm dry truck heading toward Angers where we arrived at nine o’clock. God bless truck drivers!”

I know it will be cold and rainy this time around, too. However, this is 2011 and miracle fabrics will keep me toasty and dry, even my feet.

Modern clothes wash easily and dry overnight. Back in 1961 “drip-dry” was a recent invention that took forever to dry and wrinkles were eternal. Now, everything can go un-ironed, even cotton. Wrinkles are OK, even on faces. I hope that last statement is true because I can't iron out my face.

Fact: Back in 1961 we hitchhiked in skirts and tights, black tights. No pants. That’s right, no pants in France. Watch the movies from that era and you will see Doris Day wearing skirts, hats and gloves in The Man Who Knew Too Much. Audrey Hepburn was almost always in a dress. So, like movie stars, we wore skirts. We weren’t odd. We would have blended in except for our purple tennis shoes.

This time, I’ll be in miracle fabric pants and lots of layers. Spandex! Bravo Spandex! Hiking boots and comfy socks. I love how times have changed!