1. Waking Up
It was early. There was barely a glow of morning coming in thru the balcony doors. The Hawaiian language class was at 8:00am, and it was only 6:00am. There was plenty of time, so I rolled over and fell back asleep.
The dawning of day in earnest work me up with a startle. I sat up and looked at the clock. It was 6:30am, so I rolled over again and fell asleep.
At 7:00am, I woke again in a panic, this time convinced that the class had started and I was late, but I had not. Still there was only an hour to go. I got out bed and took a shower. As I pulled on my clothes, I told Trudy that I’d meet her downstairs at the breakfast buffet.
2. Breakfast
There were scrambled eggs and steamed rice and potatoes and sausage. There were pancakes and slices of bread for toast. There was fruit and cereal. There was juice and coffee. I filled two plates and wandered around on the lanai looking for a table.
I found a place to sit at the far end, near the open air, close to the blue sky and white clouds rolling by Palm trees swaying in a tropical breeze. I sat down, and Trudy waved to me from the other side of the lanai when she arrived a few minutes later.
I ate quickly, glancing at my watch every few minutes. The class was at 8:00am, you see, and I didn’t want to miss it.
I ate my eggs and potatoes and rice and sausage. And I stuffed my mouth full of fresh pineapple. And I drank hot cups of Kona coffee.
Why was it? How was it that the online reviews for this breakfast buffet were so low when I was enjoying it so fabulously?
3. I Need to Go
Frankly, I wasn’t very good company for the fair and industrious Trudy that morning. She had just arrived, and I glanced down at my watch again. Five minutes until class.
“I need to go,” I said.
She smiled and nodded.
I got up and walked back to the other side of the lanai where they teach the class. There was a sign on the table, Hawaiian Language Class, and there were a dozen chairs. I pulled a chair out from the table and sat down.
I sat for a few minutes, periodically looking around, expecting the instructor to arrive at any minute. I was really looking forward to this.
But you see, there was no one else there.
4. I Am Sorry
“Is that where they teach the Hawaiian language class?” I asked the woman at the front desk, pointing to the table where I had been sitting.
“Yes,” she said, “but she’s always ten minutes late.”
Relieved, I smiled, said thank you and returned to my chair.
Five minutes went by. Ten minutes. Then fifteen. And after a while the woman came up to me and put a sign on the table.
“I am sorry,” she said. “There is no language class today. She called in sick.”
Dang, it would have been fun.