I’ve never wasted much time on making wishes. Even at my childhood birthday parties, when it was time to make a wish before blowing out the candles on my cake, I usually couldn’t think of anything to wish for. (Especially after the year I wished for my very own pony and discovered that what you wish for and what you get are often two very different things.) But maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older, or maybe it’s the strange and often unpleasant times we’re living in, but these days, I actually do have things I wish for. A whole list of them, as a matter of fact.
Every time I see a political ad on TV or a political meme on social media, I wish that politicians and their followers would remember that simple rule, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” I want to hear what good a candidate hopes to accomplish rather than what a horrible person his or her opponent is. The constant attacks and counter-attacks that pass for campaigning these days just make me want to go live somewhere more peaceful…..like a deserted island or distant planet.
I wish that I hadn’t tried to save money, all those years ago, by getting a landline without caller ID because the constant calls I get from telemarketers, etc., have made me forget some of my basic phone manners. I not only hang up on the telemarketers who call constantly, but I’ve grown deeply suspicious of anyone who doesn’t immediately identify themselves when they call. Which is how I’ve also hung up on my doctor, my husband’s old college roommate, and a dozen or so assorted relatives and friends. I know I’m going to have to simply get rid of the landline one of these days, but it’s on so many of our records and accounts that I dread the difficulties that’s going to cause. I can’t even work up the nerve to call the phone company and try to get caller ID installed, because my previous dealings with them have not been of a positive nature.
I wish I had the ability to remember people’s names as well as I do their faces. It’s embarrassing when someone I recognize calls me by name, and I have to try to hide the fact that I have no idea what their name is. And I still haven’t lived down the time I kept referring to a fellow volunteer as “Eldon” and no one could figure out who I was talking about. It turned out that was because his real name was “Dalton.”
There is so much else I wish for, but I do like to keep my posts at around 500 words. Sadly, these days I’m guessing what 500 words is, because my blogging format no longer tells me. (So if anyone actually counts and discovers I failed my word count goal, I apologize in advance.) I know wishing isn’t the same as doing, but I’ve also lived long enough to know that sometimes, life surprises us in a good way. So who knows? Maybe some of my wishes really will come true. And if I’m really lucky, I might even finally get that pony……