You see, he had ventured into Boots (the local pharmacy), and had come across the
selection of dosette boxes they had in store. What’s a dosette box you ask?
Google it, it’s kind of difficult to explain. I had only ever seen my Nan use them, and the idea of me having to
depend on them was a stark reminder of just how many tablets I had to take, and
how often.
So when he strolled into the house with the box, I grabbed
hold of it and started shouting and waving it in Faisal’s face like a crazy old
woman. After I had exhausted all reasons and accused him of never ever listening to
me, Faisal took the box from my hand, put it away in the cupboard, and
reassured me it was only for emergencies, and that I did not have to use it if
I didn’t want to. “Good!” I humphed, and that was the end of that.
Come night, I began the tedious task of aligning all my
medication. The process usually takes a good 5-6minutes. Faisal was in the
other room studying. Come next morning, I set out to do the task again. And
then that night. And then the morning after that. Chemo hadn’t even started,
and I was already feeling the strain of the boring task.
So one night, I tiptoed my way to other room, made sure
Faisal was busy, crept back into the kitchen and picked out the dosette box
from where it sat. I turned around, opened and closed the slots, studied the
design like I actually had a clue on whether it was a good one or not, and finally
gave in. I filled the whole box in about 15minutes, after which I hid it in a
cupboard I knew Faisal wouldn’t look in, and quietly made my way to bed.
I managed to keep the facade up for a good few days before
Faisal noticed that I had caved. He walked into the kitchen one day and saw me having my tablets out of the box, smiling merrily to myself at how easy the
task had become. He caught me out like a deer in headlights. Our eyes met across the room - and not in the romantic way. I refused to break
the stare or look embarrassed – I would not give him that satisfaction. So I
carried on looking at him, unblinking, until finally he smiled and walked over
to the sink and pretended to be busy. “Yeah, you better walk away” I thought to
myself as I followed him with narrowed eyes.
Lessons of the day:
- Never be the first to break a stare, no matter how embarrassed you may be. Nothing good can come of it.
- You should probably listen to someone who has experience in a certain field - be it medicine, administration, accounting or whatever...but at the end of the day, make your own decision. Experience is what differentiates wise people from smart people. Being smart is all well and good, but being wise is on a whole other level.
