Mirror

 

Hands Up (part one)

The elevator doors opened as slow as they usually do every time you need to use it. Inside there was a young girl in her mid-30s holding her left arm by the elbow as if she had hurt it. I was tempted to ask her if everything was alright, but stuck to small talk about the lack of rain in the city. She mentioned how hard it had been for her to breathe. As she explained this ordeal, I noticed that she spoke sluggishly as if needing to pronounce each and every syllable, she had an impediment when speaking.

We got off at the same floor and I held the door open for her. With gratitude she stepped out and thanked me. By holding the door, which she did not need to touch, her eyes filled with a smile. We did a kind of tango as she wanted to get to the hand sanitizer near the elevator door and I was in the way. Then it dawned on me. She was holding up the hand she had used to open the elevator door when she could get in and could not forget which one it was. I could see a sign of relief as soon as she was able to use the hand sanitizer. A load had lifted off her shoulders. A cargo of possible invisible germs had been killed.

Written: September 2, 2021

Gotta Keep My Hand Up (part 2)

From a very early age, she had been dealing with health issues. It seemed like her right side of the brain just didn´t want to connect with her left side. Her left leg dragged along, special shoes had to be worn, and most of the times, her memory failed her. One thing he believed that most people realized, which really shied her away from talking to people, was that her mouth drooped on the left, therefore she couldn´t smile properly and when she spoke, the words were blurted out in a lethargic manner. After 35 years, you think she´d have gotten used to these issues, but it was something she had to deal with on a daily basis.

Having to wear a mask now due to the corona virus, made life a bit easier in dealing with these physical difficulties. Her mouth was hidden and it was harder now to understand people speaking through a mask, so if she people didn´t understand her, it was because of the mask and not her droopy mouth.

In the morning she needed to go to the market. Mind you, although she had some disabilities, she could still drive a car, which had been adapted for her. But nobody needed to know that. She was pretty much independent when it came to coming and going. Having been facing a pandemic for almost two years now, she had also gotten used to the precautions she needed to take in order not to get sick; wear a mask, keep a distance and use hand sanitizers. On that morning, she had used her left hand to press the elevator button, open its door and press the -2 floor. Happiness and relief filled her heart when she saw that the lift was empty. However, it stopped on the 8^th floor.

In walked a woman who looked young but not only was she wearing a mask, but two. She felt relieved because if this woman had gone to this trouble, it meant that she was also taking care of herself during this time. Besides, the woman stayed near the door far enough from her. She had gotten the elevator with this woman before and thought she was very nice because she always started small talk. Good thing I was holding my left arm to remember which one I had used to press the buttons and open the door. This woman was funny and always made her laugh.

The elevator reached the -2^nd floor, and the young lady opened the door for her. What a kind gesture. The only problem was that she got in her way when she reached for the hand sanitizer which upset her a bit. Sadly, the woman didn´t use it like she did. But later when she saw the woman near her car, she noticed that the woman had taken out her own hand antiseptic. She knew she was not mistaken.

 

Written: September 5, 2021

Google Images