Thankful

"Thank God for the YMCA and the Internet!"

All the women in Hilltopia nod (or at least as far as PP can tell in the dark) as if this proclamation makes perfect sense. And maybe it does. PP can see why one would thank God (if one were so inclined) for the YMCA. She is thankful (though not necessarily to a Higher Power) every time she comes to the Y. Well, except for the times when the pool is closed. Or crowded. Or cold.

But this is beside the point. She is thankful for the Y.

But the Internet? Maybe. Maybe not. She thinks that the Internet is a huge ‘time suck’ as one of her students is fond of saying. In point of fact, PP has just spent the last 55 minutes looking for pictures of ‘cute….animals'or 'beautiful beaches',or 'baby cows' (you get the idea) on Google images so she can change her desktop image.

Almost an entire hour! Wasted! (Well, she did finally find a super cute pic of a gang of baby penguins. Here it is for your gushing approval.)




So the Internet is a time suck. And it’s also so goddamn frustrating. For example, this morning she was trying to find out what ‘points’ means when buying a piece of property, but an ad for ‘If you haven’t had a ticket in 3 years, you’re paying too much for car insurance’ kept popping up and blocking her purpose.

She gave up. It seemed that points and car insurance had her beat.

The Internet. She is not thankful for it most of the time. Unless it’s for email to her friends and family. Or Facebook silliness.

Yet even if she were thankful for the Internet and the YMCA, PP wonders why the two are thrown together with such cavalier abandon here in Hilltopia?

It’s a mystery. The women just say things. Non sequiturs fly willy nilly through the steamy air. Immediately after the declaration of being thankful for the Y and the Internet, another woman proclaims how “For Africa Women, not having child. It is death.”




Okay, well, for PP having a child woulda been death.

But she didn’t offer this as a follow-up conversation piece. Just like she couldn’t really comment too much on Sweet Roly-Poly’s long harangue about losing 10 lbs in one month other than to say that sounded like a lot and then nodding when Death For Africa Woman said that it was ‘The Nature’ for men to lose more weight without even working out or dieting.

PP does like this use of the definite article. The Nature. It’s so very apt in this context. Don’t you agree?

So…..back to being thankful. PP is. Not in general mind you, but in specific. Like at the moment when she’s in Hilltopia after a long hard trying swim, exhausted and heaterized letting the non sequiturs and laughter wash over her.

It’s so much better than the Internet. Or children. Or diets. Something PP doesn't have to worry about; which to judge with how much time/energy/emotion most middle-aged women spend on dieting, is something to be very very very Thankful for!