Pool close....open 8 o'clock

My daily routine it get up around 5:45 A.M., make myself a really sturdy cup of espresso roast coffee in a french press, watch a little local news and check my email before getting ready for the day.

As I start the day, I go down to the first floor at 7:00 A.M. to take part in a hotel's continental breakfast at the Aqua Aloha Surf.  Well, this morning I got a few minutes late start so when I arrived, the place was wrapped up with Japanese tourists and seating was pretty sparse.  With virtually no place to eat my breakfast, I headed for the pool area where I'd eaten several times before.

A pool guy was inside the gated area wiping the tables after just hosing them off.   As I reached for the gate to go inside, he looked up and said, "Pool close...open eight!"

"No sir, I am not swimming.  I just want to eat my breakfast at the tables."

 "Pool close...open eight!"

Clearly he could see I was dressed in business casuals (aloha shirt, slacks, brown leather shoes, etc.), definitely did not look like a swimmer and sorta important.  Besides, I didn't even have a towel.

"No sir, I'm not going swimming. I only want to sit at the tables," I said forcefully and reached for the gate latch again.

"Pool close...OPEN EIGHT!"

There is no argument if the one you argue with isn't speaking English and I don't know Portuguese, Micronesian or Whatever so I just gave him a blank stare, rolled my eyes and chose to eat my boiled eggs and orange slice standing.

He was simply doing his job, was effective at it and honestly, I can appreciate his boldness to stand by his instructions and not be swayed or bullied to abandon his mission. 

I mumbled, grumbled and sulked in English though.

Five Seconds

Five seconds; not long is it?

In my hotel room, I was watching the Will Smith movie, Legend. There was very little light except for the glow from the laptop screen and just a narrow shaft of light that made it's way across the bed through the partially drawn curtains. The air conditioner was set low and the air was crisp. Condensation had formed droplets of water on the outside of the single large pane causing an eery distortion that prevented clear vision through the haze and I could see no defined objects, buildings or trees.

With the light green glow of a street light filtering through the window, in that short moment, probably five seconds, I struggled mentally just to remember where I was. Where was I? Hawaii? Minnesota? California,? Winter? Summer? No, St Augustine, Florida in mid August, but for five very long seconds I was disoriented and had no clue. Five seconds to decide if I was in familiar surroundings; five seconds to determine if I was safe, well, in a welcomed place or even what planet I was on.

Five seconds is a long time.