Last night Rhett and I went to see Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait which is featured at PICA's TBA Festival. Centered on one match - Madrid v. Villareal, April 23rd 2005 - the film's 17 cameras focus not on the game, but on Zidane himself. It's eerily brilliant and I urge anyone who hasn't seen it to get down to the Portland Art Museum pronto.Zinedine Zidane (see left), for those of you who don't know (sigh), was possibly the greatest football player in the world (now retired.)
After the film we stopped by Cafe Castagne for a quick dinner where two unnerving things happened:
1) A really nice lady approached us as we ate to tell me that she'd been in my situation a year or so ago. So clearly I look like a cancer patient. At least to those in the know. And I thought I was getting away with it....
2) The elderly couple sitting at the next table paid for our dinner. I was completely floored by this. I'd actually asked for the check when the waitress announced that this "lovely" couple would be picking up our tab. Unfortunately Rhett was in the restroom at the time - I know he would have handled the situation more gracefully than I - and I just sat there looking dumbstruck while the couple in question wrapped up their dinner and left without even making eye contact (seriously, they were a maybe three feet away from me.) I was actually a bit annoyed. Do we look needy? We were splitting a burger because I wasn't hungry, not because we're short of cash. Maybe its the now-obvious cancer patient thing. In any case, I drafted a thank you note promising that we, in turn, would practice random acts of kindness, and gave it to our waitress to give them next time they come in. Just in case they're tuning in: THANK YOU SO MUCH MR & MRS DICKEY!
4 comments:
Bex: Did you know that Google has kindly provided this ad on your blog?
http://www.headcovers.com/?gclid=CLTo57fN2ZUCFQNLgwodTWMHXg
So YOU! Let me know if you need company on your chemo days, anytime after 10....xoxoxoxo
Wow. All that's happened to me is that I was given a 15 percent "Friends and Family" discount at a little clothing store. I asked why I was getting the discount, and the all-of-maybe-22 year old could stammer out, is a "Well, umm, you know....you have cancer? And that's really sad."
Erg. Oh well, I took the discount and I guess I'm happy that the girl can now tell all her friends of her philanthropy.
That's it. I'm shaving my head... even more.
That is quite the act of kindness. I'm glad it happened to you two. And thanks for the art tip. 17 cams? Sounds pretty radical.
I'm envious you have a husband named Rhett. I was a serious "Gone With the Wind" fanatic in my teen years. If fact, my mother still buys me GWTW memoribilia though I am long past my obsession. Men named Rhett just sound hot.
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