Critical

I give thanks about a third of way to the hospital today I managed to squeak into the conversation 'Do you mind if I listen to my music?' and the driver replied 'Not at all!' I was so grateful for a soothing break from his catalogue of criticisms and refusal to accept my noncommittal noises as replies, and to be fair he was probably relieved not to have to listen to my quite contradictory (and clearly, to his mind, probably utterly incomprehensible) views. As I explained when he kept pressing me to condemn the other road users as flouting the lockdown rules, I try to accept I don't know the reasons why people behave the way they do, and to not apportion blame on the basis of assumptions. This particular chap for instance might be normally a warm and compassionate soul, but out of fear, a misplaced sense of his own perfection or a need to create a guilty 'them' and a bonded 'us' finds fault with other groups of humanity. I give thanks for resisting the urge to type 'Yeah, right!' after that...

I give thanks for persuading him to drop me off at the entrance to the business park so I got a couple of minutes fresh air and exercise - the better to take a deep breath before my next tricky encounter! For resolving to send some healing energy to the troubled souls who have not yet learned to practice gratitude. I can see in current times that might lead them to go overboard with grumpiness instead and that's not going to do anyone any good.

I give thanks Tesco has finally recognised my need for priority delivery slots. I was offered one this Friday at an unspecified time between 2 and 10pm which of course I couldn't accept as I'll be at hospital for an unspecified part of that, but it's progress. I also, of course, give thanks that apart from perishables I have plenty of groceries until the one I managed to grab last week comes around in a couple of weeks.

I give thanks for a nice little nap during my treatment, for more of Morgan Freeman's interesting exploration of religion on Netflix and laughing out loud during The Good Place, a non-grumbly chat with the nurse who took me off the machine and the celebrity cancer bake off thing. Some very amusing contestants this week!