Sometimes the Wrong Number is the Right Number.

I dialed a wrong number today.

I misdialed.. and through checking the number, etc.. ended up chatting with a lovely gentleman on the phone. I think he was a little bit lonely and took the opportunity to have some human contact.

He started off by telling me that he often received misdialed calls as if you flip the last 2 numbers of a business number, you get him instead.. so people like me with little chubby carny hands (as mine have been called on occasion) sometimes hit the wrong buttons and call him instead.

I really hate when you dial a wrong number and someone is out and out rude about it. Seriously, you did not deliberately try to wreck their day or poison their puppy. You MADE AN ERROR. Jeepers. Some people. So since this man was being so pleasant, I was compelled to chat with him for a bit.

Through our conversation he told me that he had a bevy of health issues. He'd had 3 heart attacks due to a hereditary condition.. had had a quadruple bypass as a result... and he was only in his 50's. He hadn't worked in 17 years ever since he had been hit head on by a truck and was severely injured. He was hoping to move sometime soon because he lived in a really bad area of town.. there had been a lot of violence in his neighbourhood and at one point he had been mugged at gunpoint right outside his building.

His wife left him for a biker after he had his heart attacks as she just couldn't deal with it. After she left, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and he was currently undergoing chemo for it.. but things had taken a turn for the worse and it didn't look good.

The odd thing about this conversation was that he wasn't asking me to feel sorry for him.. He was merely telling me about himself. He went on to tell me that as long as he can still get around and he was "still kickin'" .. he'd keep doing what he does.. he's been volunteering with seniors since he stopped working.. among other volunteer positions. And generally just trying to be a productive part of society.

He wrapped up his story by telling me that he would keep going .. and that he wasn't checking out until he "was done punching his hole in the world". Then he told me that his name was Dan, and that he had had a good time chatting with me. I told him that I had had a good time talking with him. And I meant it.

I marvelled at his good spirits despite all the adversity that had been thrown his way. At one point in our conversation I had to stop speaking as I teared up during his story. What makes someone with so much perceived "bad" in his life still end up being so positive? And why does it always seem like some people who have so much perceived "good" in their lives never seem to be happy?

Well.. not sure about that I guess. I suppose it's all whether you look at the glass half full or half empty. But I do know one thing.. I have had challenges in my life, and I have let them get me down and sometimes nearly defeat me. But I've survived thus far.. and so has Dan. And he has had many more obstacles to face than I have. So I will try to follow Dan's example.. and keep punching my hole in the world.

Dan.. It was great to "meet" you.. that was the rightest wrong number I've ever dialed.

Life: Gotta get busy living.. or get busy dying.
Love: Nothing to report at this time. Although I have had a lot of interesting calls lately...
Pants: I could not locate my pants today. I had to wear another pair.