The Mean Reds

Sometimes you have a bad day.

Sometimes you catch a case of what Holly Golightly calls "The Mean Reds." It's not the same as the blues.

"The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?" -Breakfast at Tiffany's

You know you're going to catch the mean reds when you wake up and you still have that awful cold that you just can't seem to shake.

Then you decide to start on some homework, but the passage that you're reading is impossibly difficult to understand and you don't know how you're going to write an essay on this.

Then you look out the window and see that it's raining. Yet again.

But you decide to soldier on and run some errands anyway.

You have nothing good to wear. Your hair looks messy and this dorm room is too tiny to be occupied by two people.

You step out your front door and a few blocks down the road, you realize that you picked the worst shoes in the world to wear on this day.

Of course, you step in a puddle.

Your jeans are getting wet and are sloppily hitting your ankle and shin and you might as well not being wearing shoes at all.

You keep bumping into other people's umbrellas on the road and when all you want to do is get on the train that will take you to your destination, everyone else decides to walk at a snail's pace.

And then you cannot find the book that you need for your Monday class. The book that you have tried to find in more than one bookstore. The book that is supposed to be read in one week, but will not be read by you if you cannot find it.

You remember that you could try to find it at the library. Then you find out that the library is closed.

The one person that you really need to respond to your text message has yet to do so.

You go to the store to buy a dishtowel to use in your kitchen, because your kitchen-mates clearly have never washed a towel before and you cannot bear to use that disgusting towel for another day.

But the store is crowded and the lines are too long and you decide to leave empty handed.

You are tired of walking and holding this stupid umbrella and although the coat you are wearing is shielding you from the rain, you are starting to feel uncomfortably warm.

You are hungry and tired and wet and you miss your family and you miss your friends.

And you kind of just want to go home.

You've got the mean reds and you've got them bad.

But then you stop. And you remember where you are.

You tell yourself, dearie, you're in London. Stop it.

You remember the wonderful day that you had yesterday.

You remember how much you enjoyed walking through the park and taking photographs and you remember the moment you found the Peter Pan statue.

You'd waited your whole life to see Peter Pan and there he was.

You remember how you got all choked up, sitting there on that bench, simply because you were so happy.

The mean reds start to fade.

And then you remember your friend's favorite motto, "Choose joy."

And you decide to be happy.

You still don't know where you'll find that book, but it will work out.

The essay won't be that bad and you can do it tomorrow.

You finally get a response to that text message.

You realize that you don't need to be walking so fast so you slow down.

You give up avoiding puddles and instead take off your shoes and roll up your jeans because you've only got one more block to go anyway.

You get home, set everything down and trash those stupid shoes. They're too beat up to keep.

Then your friend calls you and says, "Let's go see a movie," and you hope they have good popcorn in London.

:)