Murphy's Law

So the saga continues..my tryst with the M factor in my life. .The present one (let me call her J)is a giggly 30 something ( for reasons unknown to me all of them are 30 something ) whose local diction and language are not acceptable to my mother. The amount of mediation I keep doing between the two of them makes me wonder if I am qualified to lead a delegation to the Maoists!

What happened today is hilarious although it has nothing to do with her language or diction. Mother has to take medicines for her various ailments. One particular medicine to be given on alternate days. So the super organizer that I am ( or so I thought till recently), I got into action.

Step 1 : I put a mark on all alternate days on my table calendar and showed it to J explaining that the marks indicated the days on which the medicine to be given. She said ‘fine’.

Step 2: I put the medicine in a separate container so that it will not be confused with others. Showed it to J. She said ‘fine’.

Step 3: As an additional precaution I put a ‘reminder’ alarm in my mobile.

Mind you, all these precautions were taken just in case I am not around during mother’s medicine time . Today happened to be one such day. At 9 o’ clock sharp my mobile gave a beep. J has a mobile phone and so understands its mechanisms. I showed her the message and casually asked if she had given the medicine to mother. She nodded.

Later during the day mother mentioned that she hasn’t had her medicine. I looked at J . Her eyes widened and she asked “ Oh, am I supposed to give it today ?I thought it was tomorrow.” I just couldn’t believe my ears !

“But when I asked you said you had given it ?” Her eyes opened even wider. “When did you ask me ? “ (I had already started shivering by then,trying to control my temper.Count up to ten,I told my self !) Outwardly I tried to look calm and reminded her of our earlier conversation and my showing her the mobile reminder . J gave a broad grin and said “Oh, that. You see I was not actually listening to you. At that time I was wondering whether to take a hot or cold water shower”.

You were absolutely right,Murphy ! "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong".