There is Humor All Around

"When you've gotta go, you've gotta go."

We've all heard this saying (or some variation of it) at least once in our lives, right? I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that we've all felt this at some point as well. Yesterday, the little girls and I experienced someone else's EXTREME need "to go" and what an experience it was.

I had a dr.'s appt. and my doctor's office is located at the hospital. For those of you familiar with Cleveland, you know that MetroHealth is not in the finest of locations. But, my doctor is excellent and so worth the drive. Without getting too sidetracked, suffice it to say that the environment is not an "upper West Side" atmosphere. Whatever that means...making a trip there is likely to be a very eye-opening experience no matter what time of day or night. Pretty much, anything goes.

Anyway...we were in the bathroom...Kenzie in her stroller, Brynnley in the stall. Suddenly, the door flew open and a rather distraught woman came charging in. She was moaning -- almost ranting, as I quickly moved the stroller -- clearing a path to the empty stall. Upon entering the stall, she immediately threw off her scarf and tossed her coat and purse to the ground. All the while, the moaning got louder and louder. "Oh, Oh, Oh My! Oh My _________ (enter the name of Heavenly Beings), OH! OH! Holy _______ (you fill in the blank). Kenzie was enthralled by the scenario and it was as though her head was glued over her right shoulder as she watched the episode unfold. I was stuck somewhere between shock and horror, yet simultaneously wondering, "should I offer assistance of some sort?"

Had I not seen the woman and known otherwise, I would have seriously wondered if she was giving birth right then and there. The exclamations were that intense and that loud. (Just as a sidenote - I have given birth that way and truly could have related to her pain.) Finally, amidst the moaning, we heard the sound of great relief. We all felt relief, although the girls and I did not express our gratitude quite as eloquently or as vocally as did this woman.

"OH! OH MY! OH THANK YOU (enter Heavenly Beings again)! OH! OH! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Holy _______ (it was not a cow). OH YES - THANK YOU !"

Mind you, this was a small bathroom. Even though I had moved Kenzie's stroller once again (and yes, she was still craning her neck - trying to see), we had little options. The door to the stall was wide open, and even though we weren't looking directly inside, it was hard to totally avert our eyes from the mirror which reflected this woman in all her glory.

Desperate not to laugh, and yet wondering what kind of long-term effect this incident would have on my children, I pleaded with Brynnley to hurry up. By this point, the "child had been born" and the woman gathered her scarf and coat and purse from the floor, put them over her arm and promptly walked out -- moaning and thanking Heavenly Beings all the way out the door.

And no - she did not wash her hands.