THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES

[schlomo]

The Heebie-jeebies

A jittery man sat opposite me at the front of the bus yesterday. He couldn’t stay still. Every other second, he raised his body to look frantically ahead and to the side, perhaps trying to figure out where he needed to be and which bus stop would lead him there. And when he completely sat down for a moment, his whole body began to twitch. His ordeal ended two stops later. As he departed the bus, he was so overjoyed to have reached his destination that he blurted out to the driver (even though it is March now) “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.”

I can identify with this distraught man. His nervous tics reminded me of what my Uncle Hymie used to say about me ever since my mother had trouble reining me in when I got fidgety: “You got ants in your pants.” Those invasive ants have remained dormant for most of my adult life until recently when I was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome. I get antsy, especially when I have been sitting for a while. And so life comes full circle.