As in grammar school when that sobering time came to file into the classroom to find out whether the student had truly been paying attention, taking good notes, doing their own homework and studying diligently, it was time for the final exam, or in this case of a Weight Watchers meeting, The Weigh-In. During the winter months, in preparation for this sobering event, light summer clothing was generally worn under the necessary heavy winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. All were deposited on the chosen folding chair, as wallets change of a dollar, house keys and timepieces were discreetly tucked away in the tips of one’s shoes for the men or pocketbooks for the women.As with grammar school you could tell who had prepared for the day with the tell of an overly sunny disposition, a-lighthearted air, straining at the leash so to speak, eager to stand on the scale of reckoning, an earthly judgment day, as it were.Meanwhile those who had not been so diligent walked to the scale as if they were walking to the electric chair, having been seduced by the exhaust of a bakery on their weekly sojourns or sauntering down the cookie aisle of their local supermarket with Velcro tipped gloves!
Everyone was hungry having been good on the previous day, not unlike cramming for the final exam. I waited patiently in line until my turn came for that moment of truth.I stepped gingerly on the scale and as the machine calculated I was amazed to find out that I had just left the 15% club my code word before being under 300 lbs. I felt as light as a feather as I stepped off the scale to a throng of congratulatory exclamations by the Weight Watchers representative and my peers! I was proud that I had stuck to my objectives for the week. After the meeting ended, we all made our way to the exits and filed into the parking lot behind the Metro Mall as the M train was pulling out of Metropolitan Avenue Station, to the left. Just then a huge gust of wind no longer blocked by the train game streaming across the wide-open parking lot, and I was lifted off the ground and up into the air, floating away from my compatriots as they struggled to catch me as I ascended over the parking lot. Everyone on the ground looked amazed as I floated away, and some faces seemed congratulatory while others seemed annoyed that this was some excessively ostentatious trick of showy bravado. There was no trick and I could not explain the situation as I floated over the BJ's tire center then Christ the King High School,All Faiths Cemetery South and then across Metropolitan Ave into All Faiths Cemetery North where I eventually grabbed hold of the top tree branches pulling myself down to the tree trunk and climbed back down to Terra firma. I immediately searched for and put a large rock in each of my coat pockets so that this unfortunate incident would not be repeated in the future. In retrospect I have recently read a quote by the contemplative Buddha stating that “If you wish to fly give up everything that weighs you down “.
Jim-Jan 24’
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