I used to be useless with resolutions, rather I was really good at making them but lousy at keeping them. But then I discovered a means of improving my success rate – I stopped making them. I accepted that I just don’t have the ‘for ever’ gene.
When my aunt was a teen she needed an operation to correct a turned eye. Her mum, my grandmother was terrified, and being a devout Catholic she made a pact with God. If the big fellah would only look after my aunt during the surgery, she would go to mass every day for the rest of her life. The surgery went without a hitch and true to her word my grandmother went to mass every morning, rain, snow or sunshine and regardless of her state of health. Now my grandfather had a view on this. After the surgery my grandmother told him that she had promised God they would both go to mass every day forever. If grandfather didn’t go to mass then God might strike somebody down for breaking the pact. After much haranguing he relented and he went to mass every day – but not with my grandmother – he went at 6-30 am and she went at 7-30. So I guess that the ‘for ever’ gene was present in my maternal DNA so it’s my paternal 23 chromosomes that are to blame.
I only think about my grandparents pledge now because of Mr Good Morning. As I am in open conditions, on the mornings that I wake early (and if it’s sunny and I can be bothered) I head up to the sports field for a morning run. While my attendance is sporadic at best, there was always a guy up there and already sweating by 6-30 am. He ran clockwise, I counter-clockwise and on the first pass of each day we would say good morning. That was it. We were each other’s Mr Good Morning. I’ve had a few in my lifetime, those I shared a bus, train or lift with, just familiar people that are part of my routines.
If I ran three mornings on the trot or if my runs were two weeks apart it didn’t matter Mr Good Morning was there, until he wasn’t one day, then another and another. I still saw him around camp and eventually I broke our two word dialogue rule and commented, “Haven’t seen you in a bit. Is all OK?” He simply replied his ankle had been playing up so he was taking a break. I got the feeling that there was more to the story but I didn’t want to press – plus I’m trying to get less involved in all things prison so I wished him a speedy recovery and went back to minding my own business.
A week or so later I stopped seeing him around camp and I eventually asked somebody from his unit where he was. When I mentioned the guy who used to run the field at 6 am each day he instantly knew who I was talking about – and what had befallen him. He was back in closed conditions having failed a mandatory drug test MDT where Cocaine had been detected in his system. Failing an MDT is serious business in any prison, but when Class A narcotics are detected you’re pretty much screwed. The prison won’t tolerate the risk of violence associated with Class A and the addiction issues that accompany them.
Now in hindsight it all makes sense – the change in behaviour that was brought about by drug use. I’ve seen this type of change before, with people either kicking or developing habits. I used to look out for it, but I guess no longer. I’m minding my own business and either I didn’t notice the change in Mr Good Morning or I did notice, but my subconscious or a cultivated cognitive dissonance blanked it out on me.
Now there is a part of me that wants to find the positive in this story. I don’t know, perhaps to say that I use Mr Good Morning’s lack of access to open air as an inspiration to run every single day, rain, sleet or shine. That I now run my laps clockwise in honour of an old friend and perhaps I now say good morning to a guy who comes up to the field sporadically. Well this isn’t that type of story. He’s gone, I’m not and my life goals are not affected by tangential incidents.
And for all the dodgy genes I inherited from my paternal side, missing out on a genetic compulsion for self punishment at 6 am every day is no bad thing! Man I love me the snooze button.
(Is this Hubris and / or Irony? Since writing this blog I have received my work roster for my new job in the community. I will be leaving for work at 6am, 6 days per week!)
