Sunday, January 20, 2008

Misfortunate Sunday "The Sound of Silence"

Sunday 15th of May 2005, was a day that I was looking forward to spend and have been planning for two weeks. It was a day that was crammed with a very busy schedule of errands, duties, meetings, and gatherings. The program of the day was to go shopping with a friend to buy our new summer clothes, have lunch, pick up the dress that I will wear in my best friends wedding, and have dinner with friends that I haven’t seen for ages. Although it sounded very hectic, it still felt great and fun to spend since I have been unoccupied for some time, which could be depressingly dull.

I woke up that morning feeling fresh and active, a feeling that I haven’t experienced for a while. I felt needed, and pleased with the fact that people depended on me to assist them. I got out of my bed at about 9.30 AM (which is considered early for what I am used to), I went to the bathroom to take my morning shower, and then I slipped and fell in the bathtub and hit my head. It was nothing serious or anything but, it caused me to go through the worst headache that ended up accompanying me for the reset of the day.
Anyhow, I got up gracefully, and went to my room to get dressed, for my surprise after 15 minutes of extensive search for my favorite pink shirt with purple laces; I found out that it was dirty and had to go to the dry cleaning, as a result I ended up wearing my uncomfortable blue shirt instead.

After wards, I headed for the kitchen to have my breakfast, because I know that this would be my only chance to eat in the coming hours. Then in the kitchen, I found out that we have run out of toast and even worse, we have run out of orange juice! How can we run out of orange juice, when I have just bought a new bottle the day before? Orange juice is what keeps me refreshed in the morning, and it gives me energy. In addition to this, having orange juice in the morning is what my mother taught me to do since I was 5 years old.

Any normal human being would think what a horrible way to start a day. Falling in the bathtub, not being able to wear my favorite shirt, and then running out of breakfast material, talking about DOMSETIC DISTURBANCE!! These accidents could be all signs of an unlucky day ahead of me, but no, not me, I would not think like that with my bright mood, nothing could affect it. I also thought to myself that what happened to me so far, could make the bad luck vibe of the day to come to an end. With a huge smile on my face, I left my house, trying to get through to my best friend on the cell phone to tell him about my day; it is a daily thing that we carry out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach him, he wasn’t picking up, and I was dying to tell him about what happened to me back home.

Anyway, as I was walking out of my building I decided to go through my mailbox where I found my phone bill. As much as discouraging it was to read it, I wasn’t surprised, I was fully aware of the tons of calls that I made this month. I was just worried about my parent’s reaction when they find out. However, that was no time for worries; I am ready and set to start my day. As I got in my car and started driving, I realized I was in the mood to listen to some music, so I decided to put on the radio. As I turned it on, I recognized the song that was playing, it was my favorite song, and I haven’t heard it for ages, but to my bad luck, it was culminating. I missed my favorite song; I missed the chance to listen to “The Sound of Silence” by “Simon & Garfunkel”, but at least I got to listen to the last verse. Not being affected a single bit by that, I kept on driving still suffering from that terrible headache that I got earlier, and trying to get through to my best friend who still wasn’t picking up.

After a long drive from Zamalek to Maadi, I reached my first stop of the day; it was at my friend’s place. My friend Laura and I go way back, since we were mates in the synchronized swimming team 10 years ago. She is not my best friend; because we contradict in many things, but I consider her one of my close friends. We share many similar interests, and we have many common friends outside of the synchronized swimming society. Laura is very caring and sweet. On the other hand, she is not emotionally driven, she is very practical, logical, and puts her interest before anything else. Although we get along, sometimes she can get really provocative and loud, especially when her sarcastic humor kicks in. Laura is very good looking who loves dressing classically.

I was waiting for Laura in my car as I kept trying to call her because she was 10 minutes late. She finally picked up after the fifth time, as she picked up she kept apologizing for being late telling me that she over slept and didn’t hear the alarm clock, and that she’ll be downstairs in 15 minutes. I was not mad at her for being late, I was just starting to get worried because we had a very busy program, and with her lateness, we became 30 minutes behind our schedule. While I was waiting for her in my car, I couldn’t think of anything other than the crucial pain in my head, so I decided to look for any drug store next to Laura’s house where I can find an antibiotic, but I couldn’t find any, except one that was still closed. I returned to Laura’s house, where she was waiting for me, she got in the car, and we started our voyage.

Laura and I have a seasonal habit, where we go shopping together for new seasonal clothes and with the summer starting to arrive, it was time to browse for new flip-flops, bathing suits, T-shirts, sleeveless shirts, shorts, and summer dresses. However, this time I had one extra thing on my list, a new pair of jeans. I became in essential need for a new pair of jeans since my current pair of jeans loosened after I started losing weight. I have been searching for the suitable pair for more than a month (I am very picky and selective when it comes to my jeans, that’s because I end up wearing them almost all the time), I finally found the perfect pair two days earlier, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough money with me then. But I was fully set and prepared to buy them on that Sunday.

After a very successful shopping tour that Laura and I accomplished across Maadi, Mohandeseen, and Zamalek, we finally reached the jeans store Down Town. As we walked into the store, with me being so excited to show them to Laura, the sales woman told me that the last pair that could fit me was SOLD OUT!! I was in real state of shock and disappointment, because I called the store the day before to make sure that it was still in stock, and the manger told me that they still have a few more pairs. How could they just all of sudden get sold out in such a short time??!!

I have to admit that I was a bit frustrated at that point, so I decided to buy a pack of cigarettes (I only smoke when I am frustrated or when I am working). Laura noticed my frustration, so she suggested that we go hang out anywhere to have lunch and a few drinks, so that I can chill out. We both agreed to go to a place that has shisha and good food, so we went to Tabasco Mohandeseen. It was rather crowded when we got there; as a result, we had to wait for a table. After 30 minutes we managed to get a table, as we both started relaxing and ordering, guess who walked into the café’? My Ex-boyfriend Aly, whom I haven’t seen since we broke up 2 years ago.

Aly and I had a very hard yet a very challenging and a fun relationship, it didn’t last for long, but it was the most life altering relationship that I had. I learned a lot from that experience about life and my self, and I must admit that without it I would not have been who I am today. Though I was absolutely over Aly, and I have moved on with my life, it was hard for me to see him again, especially after I heard from a friend of his that he is going to be engaged in a few months.

I honestly didn’t know how to react when I saw him, because the last time we met was dreadful, we had the ugliest break up of all times. I didn’t know whether to go greet him, or wait for him to do that. I had a lot of conflicting feelings inside of me, I was angry at him, mad because of the way things turned out, but I was also glad to see him again, I thought that this coincidence could lead us to become friends, and believe it or not, I was happy that he was getting engaged. However, I did not have the nerve to go over and talk to him, so I ended up ignoring his presence, which I bet made me look like a jerk, but I just couldn’t do anything about it. As a result, he did not come over as well, so we ended up looking at each other with hatred and disappoint.

After Laura and I finished eating, I just could not wait to get the hell out of that place, and run away from that awkward situation that I put my self into. The time was almost 4.30 PM, and it was half an hour away from my next appointment, where I had to pick up the dress that I will wear in my best friend’s wedding. I was exceptionally eager to see the product of a great deal of thought, work, and effort exerted from both the designer and me. I also lost a lot of weight and paid a lot of money, just to get it designed. Laura was also looking forward to see it, as she has heard me talking about nothing but this dress for the last couple of months.

Anyway, we reached the designer’s office just in time to meet him. He met us with a huge smile on his face, as we walked into his office, which indicates that he is very much pleased with the job he did. He buzzed his assistant to bring in the dress, and then the assistant walked into the door with it. Laura and I became stunned and speechless, the dress was exactly as me and the designer imagined, yet even better, but I was very worried that it might not look that good on me. Gladly, when I tried it on, it turned out to be looking just as perfect as it should.

We left the designer’s office in Mohandeseen at about 5.30 PM, heading towards Misr El Gedida, because we were going to have dinner with our friends that we haven’t seen for months, one of them was flying to live in Paris the next morning, and this was the last chance for us to see her. Before heading towards Misr El Gedida , Laura suggested that we stop to get a couple of coffees in order to become more alert and awake at the dinner, so we did. The 6th October Bridge was extremely crowded, that it took us over an hour on it. When we finally reached the Salah Salem road, there was a reckless driver that almost caused us to have a serious accident, but thank god I managed to step on the breaks at the right time. As I was trying to clear my thoughts from that horrible incident, my eyes caught another accident that occurred. My cup of coffee fell on my dress and got it STAINED!! I could not believe what happened, I was very furious, upset, and very much stressed.

I had no choice but to drive back to Zamalek, and try to get to the dry cleaning shop before the stain gets dry, and ruins my dress for good. Laura thought it was ridiculous to drive all the way back there in such crowded streets just to go to a particular dry cleaning place. But I ignored what she said because I could not risk giving my new, beautiful, expensive dress to any dry cleaning store. I only trust the one in Zamalek, and I wasn’t going to refer to any other dry cleaning store than that in Zamalek.

By the time that we delivered the dress in Zamalek and went back to Misr El Gedida, it was almost 8.30, and we were already an hour and a half late. Nevertheless, our friends were very content to see us, and they were very understanding to the situation that caused us to arrive late. As Laura was mingling with everyone, I was feeling very tired and worn out from all the driving, and the headache that kept getting worse, but as time passed by, I was feeling slightly better, and started enjoying my time. There was lots of catching up to discuss with everyone, and I was so glad to see everyone safe and sound again.

I had a great time, but it was time to leave. I had a couple of extra errands to do, I was supposed to drive Laura to Maadi, and go pick up my dress from the dry cleaning. As I was reaching in my purse to bring out my car keys, shockingly I could not find them. I got so nervous, and I checked every side pocket in my purse, I also asked Laura to do so (she might have accidentally put them in hers). I went into the restaurant that we were in and spoke to the manager, but there wasn’t a single trace leading to the keys. I even started calling all the people that were with us, but none of them could find the keys. I decided to call my best friend, maybe he’ll pick up this time, and he finally did.

Once he heard of what happened to me, he offered that he would go to my house and take the spare keys form my mum and bring them to me. His thoughtful gesture started making me feel relieved and relaxed. Then Laura struck me with her news, telling me that she has a babysitting appointment in Maadi, and that she couldn’t wait till someone brings me the spare keys all the way from Zamalek. She even called one of our friends that were with us, and asked him to return so that he can drive her to Maadi. I know that she had things to do, but at that point, I was so frustrated and upset, that I started lashing it out on her.

After Laura left me behind, there I was standing all alone in the middle of the street, feeling so helpless and vulnerable. At that moment, I broke down like a little baby, and I started crying from my frustration, and from the headache that felt like someone was squeezing my brain. I couldn’t help think of how lousy my day turned to be. The manger of the restaurant saw me standing alone, and he offered me to wait inside, he even got me complimentary lemon juice. I know that what he did was extremely nice, but the action of his made me feel even worse. It made me feel that he was pitting me, while my own friends left me behind. I couldn’t help but feeling cheap, and sorry for my self.

After an hour and a half waiting in the restaurant, Ahmed, my best friend arrived with my spare keys. He could see how much I was devastated, but we had no time to talk, because he was supposed to meet his fiancée and her parents, and he was already running late. Accordingly, I thanked him for his sweet gesture, and went on my way to go home. While I was driving back home I kept wondering how can someone with a bright mood similar to the one I had this morning end up down, upset, and almost depressed. I could not think of anything but how horrid, frustrating, disappointing, and nerve wrecking my day turned to be. I hit my head in the bathtub, couldn’t wear my favourite and comfortable shirt, couldn’t have breakfast, received a very expensive phone bill, missed my favourite song, couldn’t find the jeans that I was dying to get, bumped into my Ex-Boyfriend, almost ruined my new dress, lost my car keys, and finally being DITCHED by my own friends!!!

I was aware that most of what happened to me on that day could happen to anyone, but it is the accumulating occurrence of these events in one day, is what drove me to be in the state I was in. I walked into my house looking all depressed, I couldn’t speak or talk to anyone, I headed straight to my room. Then I went to take a long, warm, and relaxing shower, and then it struck me. I realized that I needed to get disconnected form everything for a while, and the first step to achieve that was to switch off my cell phone. I felt the need to be isolated and alone for a while, that I needed time to recharge.

As I laid my head on my pillow, I began to understand and comprehend the words of “Simon & Garfunkle’s” classic “The Sound of Silence”. The words touched and tingled me inside:
Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping, Left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain, Still Remains… Within the Sound of Silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone, Narrow streets of cobblestone, 'Neath the halo of a street lamp, I turned my collar to the cold and damp, when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light, that split the night….And touched the Sound of Silence.


As I shuffle and browsed the words through in my head, I came to the realization that made me know, that all I need is to be in a status where no one and no thing could disturb my Sound of Silence.

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