No worries
..no one is sick.
This past week, a fellow blogger, Gina over at SWEET SERENITY wrote, as a blogging group assignment , about a time she was scared. She is a Canadian living in London with her family. Seems when they first arrived their house wasn't quite ready to move in...which was a major hassle since she had a child that needed to start school.....The scary part though, was that her husband was leaving her, in this strange, place, and going out of the country on a business trip. I so enjoy reading about expats, because long ago, I was one....and I have a very similar story.
We arrived in The Netherlands (36 yrs ago) and my husband was to go on to Saudi Arabia on business for two weeks. No problem, I was an independent sort (even though I didn't speak the language) or so I thought. . We found a crib, for our ten month old ,and barely got it put together before he had to leave.
Everything was fine...and then the baby got sick. She was running a really high fever, that I couldn't get down, and I knew no one to call for help. Talk about scared... Then I remembered...I had questioned a lady in the grocery store, as to where something was, and low and behold she too was an American , and had given me her business card! Desperate, I called this complete stranger, and she appeared on my door step in minutes, and drove me, and my sick baby to the hospital emergency room.
Everything was fine...and then the baby got sick. She was running a really high fever, that I couldn't get down, and I knew no one to call for help. Talk about scared... Then I remembered...I had questioned a lady in the grocery store, as to where something was, and low and behold she too was an American , and had given me her business card! Desperate, I called this complete stranger, and she appeared on my door step in minutes, and drove me, and my sick baby to the hospital emergency room.
After examining the baby, the doctor handed me a prescription. Being the careful Mother I was, I questioned him about the prescription, to make sure that it was safe for a ten month old to take. He looked me in the eye and said. "Your baby is fine,...Keep her cool and give her some lemonade" The prescription is for you." Yep, he had written a prescription for a tranquilizer... not for the baby...but for me!. I didn't think it so funny at the time. At least I can chuckle about it now!
The doctor by the way was correct. I was a nervous wreck. It was not a good start to a wonderful two year assignment.....but it got better (without the prescription).
I'll spare you the details about how I got tired of eating frozen pizza, and finally got brave enough to get in line (having practiced my Dutch) at the butcher and green grocer....Ha!
Have you ever been in a situation where you have been scared?
Yes, and it was scary! Long ago I was a flight attendant when the airlines were flying propellor aircraft. Shortly after we left one airport for a short trip to Midway Airport in Chicago on a late night flight, the crew called me into the cockpit to warn me that a bomb alert had been reported for our aircraft. I was supposed to check the cabin to see if I could find a suspicious looking object. Not to tell the passengers. In my imagination I could "hear" the ticking of the bomb. As we neared the airport the passengers were informed, they remained calm and the bomb squad was lining the runway, away from the airport for our arrival. During our regularly required evacuation procedures, in a previous bogus situation I never could get the passengers off the aircraft in a timely way, and I supposedly "blew up" with the unevacuated passengers. All this was going through my mind as I prepared the passengers for landing; none of whom were handicapped in any way so I knew the evacuation would be swift. We landed and braked, the cabin door was opened, and I yelled to the passengers, "Follow me!" and I was the first one off the plane,. Thereafter, I was used as a prime example of what NOT to do in an emergency during training sessions. No discipline action, only highly amused reactions. Ah, those were the days when flying was fun!
ReplyDeletePS. Your situation like mine turned out very well indeed!
ReplyDeleteHa! Thanks for the laugh Kate! As two ole stews I bet we could write a best seller...with all of our funny flight stories!
ReplyDeleteyikes! glad you questioned the doc! sheesh!
ReplyDeleteOh Janey what a story! You must have felt so awful, now everybody speaks english here. The prescription was a bit rude of the doctor.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Kate is very funny. I have also a bit identical story. When we lived in Amsterdam with a baby and a two year old, I could stay in a holiday home of someone we knew at the North Sea coast. Stef came by in the weekends and I was there on my own during the week. My two year old daughter tumbeld down of the stairs on a stone floor, her mouth was bleeding and her theeth were pointing every directions. She was crying like mad. I knew nobody there and there was nobody either. No car or other transportation, I took a telephone book with trembling hands to look up a number for help. I got a dentist on the phone and half crying I told him what had happened. He calmed me down so very nicely, step by step told me what to look at, asked if she could move her mouth, she had no broken jaw, her theeth would be alright, they were just babyteeth. I have never seen the man but I am so grateful he was so nice with a hysterical woman on the phone.
A few weeks later my daughter tumbled again on her theeth on a wooden chair at home. Now I was in Amsterdam on a friday afternoon in rush hour in a taxi which got stuck in the traffic. With a crying child and the baby again om my way to a dental university because my own dentist wouldn't treat a little toddler! The taxidriver was so nice to put the money meter out when we stood still in the traffic jam.
Kids, we can write a book about them.
Living in a foreign country..and now blogging confirms that we are all more alike than different, especially if we are Moms! You have also confirmed what I already knew...there are some great folks in The Netherlands!
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking out for me :)
ReplyDelete~ kid with the fever
Oh my! That would be scary. You are so right ~ this confirms that we are more alike than different. I can't thank you enough for sharing your scary life story. Loved reading everyone else's as well.
ReplyDelete