My grandma turned 92 yesterday. We didn't really get a chance to do anything to celebrate -- my mom came home from the hospital yesterday evening, and is doing pretty well... laparoscopic surgery seems an awful lot easier/faster to recover from than open surgery.... In any case, my grandma went to the movies today and saw Iron Man -- I convinced her that would be better than the one her friends were pushing, "What Happens In Vegas...," which got pretty terrible reviews.
"I was fascinated with the photography, how they have him going up, shooting up to the sky. I couldn't really analyze what was going on, you have to know about computers and pressing buttons and things like that, but I was definitely interested. And, you know, what made it more tolerable than just a picture about crazy things, the fact that there were human beings involved in this, they didn't just leave human beings on the Earth and go up to the sky with aliens and creatures, but the whole picture was actually about human beings and so you could relate to it a little but. But the photography, how they film these things.... As you know, I used to be a photography nut, developing my own pictures and enlarging them and always I was aware of beautiful pictures with the sky, sunlight, moonlight, and the clouds, so I'm very much interested in this kind of thing. And this movie was like a million pictures I couldn't believe -- they soar through the sky and come back to Earth and it was just magnificent the way they did this photography, with the computers, and made it look like this. It was just amazing to watch even if you didn't know what exactly was happening. And it got me thinking, who knows, maybe 150 years from now we'll go into the sky, people will just press a button and be flying through the air. You never know what this world will be like, maybe in 150 or 200 years, this is how people will be living.
But [one of my friends], she's a nut. The Mets had a doubleheader today because of the rain yesterday, and she can't miss a game, she took her radio with her, and while she's watching the picture she's listening to the game, she keeps it very low in her ears. I don't know how the people around her don't seem to hear it, or how she's even able to pay attention to anything, the game or the movie, but she's a nut. She's complaining even though they won, she's complaining that the manager, they ought to fire him, I don't know what she was saying. And I was surprised she even went to the movies when a game was on, but I know why she went. It's so strange. The manager keeps letting us in for free. And she loves a bargain. Why is that? We want to know! We're there every Saturday and lately, he won't let us pay. I mean, I guess he sees three little old ladies and feels bad for us, but it's very awkward. They won't take our money. And it's not like we tell him we can't afford it. I go up to the ticket line and the woman just waves us in, tells us to go to the front and the manager will take care of us. Every cashier now, they all seem to know, and they just let us in for free. And [my friend], she loves a bargain. Otherwise she wouldn't come, especially with the game on, but saving even a penny means a lot to her. If she can save a nickel in the supermarket, she gets so excited, she tells us about it, like it's a hundred dollars to her. I'm glad she got home in time to watch the second game of the doubleheader though.
Here's something else I'm confused about. The cab I took. You know, I always call the same company, usually a few times a week when I don't feel like going on the bus to the senior center, or on Saturdays to the movies when I don't take the Access-A-Ride. But it's not like it's every day or anything. And it's not like they know me or when my birthday is. But yet somehow, I don't know -- I called up to get a cab and the woman on the phone asks me where was I yesterday, and how am I doing, and wishes me a Happy Birthday. And then -- it gets even more bizarre -- I'm in the cab, and the driver stops at their offices on Avenue U and the woman comes out and gives me a beautiful rose. You know, wrapped up in plastic like the way they sell them. I mean, I'm not her friend, and on the phone sometimes I don't know if it's even this girl or another girl answering, and I never say "how are you" or anything like that, because I don't want to say it to someone else if it's not the girl I always talk to, and I know there's more than one of them. But I'm not her friend. And I don't know how she knew it was my birthday! And why she's making such a big deal about it. I don't know her personally. I saw her, she brought the flower out. And I didn't even realize -- I thought it was a young girl who answers the phone, but she's not -- she looked like she was about 60 years old. So I definitely don't know this woman. It's all very strange.
And I got this wonderful card from [my other friends], they said they're gonna take me out for my birthday. Which is nice of them, but it makes me uncomfortable -- I didn't do anything for their birthday, and I don't want people making such a fuss. It's not like I feel any different now, at 92 instead of 91. Do people just think that once you're this age, they better pay attention to your birthday because this one might be it? Maybe they just know i've had this trouble with your mother's health, but still. I had to make all these calls when I got home -- and I was tired!"
So... she liked the movie? :)
Best of luck to your mother & wishes for a quick recovery.
And I liked Iron Man too.
I would not recommend that your grandmother see the other movie I'm interested in going to, Red Belt. It's a Mamet script. I don't think she'd enjoy it.
Posted by: Eh Nonymous | May 11, 2008 at 07:17 AM
Your grandma is so cute. Happy birthday too her from another stranger.
Posted by: Mel | May 11, 2008 at 01:44 PM