Here I am, sitting with no heat or hot water while the 24 hour mark of bearing this cold is approaching. It’s not the same here in London where you can make a big stink about things and try to report people. Especially when you’re a foreigner. I would have no idea who to call anyway. I called the property manager several times and they just said the plumber is coming and hours later, nothing.
This would be less of a big deal if, A. It wasn’t winter and B. I didn’t have to fly to Miami tonight and needed to do my hair. As a black woman, wash day is everything. It’s an entire process and the most necessary ingredient is, you guessed it, water. Preferably hot. Not this frigid ice water that chilled my bones and make me colder then I already was.
I resorted to desperate measures and turned the oven on and left the oven door open to heat up the room. Thank God my apartment is tiny enough for that to work. But the shocking thing is I didn’t freak out, I didn’t yell at the property management company and I didn’t make a huge fuss about it. I did make it clear they need to fix it asap but usually I get worked up in these situations and I just didn’t. I knew I had enough time for them to fix it before my flight and I just prayed it would all be fixed and I let God do the rest.
I went and got my nails done, ran some errands, got some food for the plane (cause Lord knows I’m not eating that plane food again, we all know what happened the last time), and I tried all all my clothes packed, turned on Netflix and waited. I was also waiting for some packages that said they weren’t going to come today even though I specifically ordered them next day delivery. I was going to Miami and had NOTHING to wear for warm weather. Since it’s cold in London all I have are sweaters and coats. It was starting to feel like it was one thing after another, I could have dwelled on the fact that I was about to stinky, with crazy hair and no clothes headed to Miami or I could focus on everything working out.
Well, my packages ended up getting delivered on time and when I went out to grab them in the lobby, I saw the plumber had finally arrived to fix the boiler. A couple hours later I reach over towards my furnace and realized it was hot! Heat and hot water had arrived!
And you know what I did to make that happen? Nothing. I didn’t yell or curse anyone out, I didn’t fall into a pity hole of, “why me?” and, “why today of all days.” I just kept praying when I started to doubt it would happen and I envisioned myself in Miami wearing the outfits I bought with my hair done and edges laid.
And that my friends is the art of not freaking out. It pretty much requires you do nothing. Just pray and wait. Everything worked out and I saved myself a lot unnecessary stress and headache by worrying all day. Now I’m ready for a little fun in the sun! I’m going for work but it’s Miami so you know there will be a little play!
xx
