One Lump or Two?
Recently, my friend Jane and I went on a roadtrip. Our friend was getting married in Moab, UT, and we decided to turn the trip to the wedding into an extended hiking trip. Moab has many beautiful spaces to hike in. On our drive down to Moab, Jane told me that she was familiar with a travel company there. This company provided boat trips by night on the Colorado River. She had interacted with this company through her job, and she was always curious about what the boat trip might be like. I knew we would have a couple of free nights in Moab, so I went ahead and googled “Moab night boating” on my phone. Sure enough, I found a travel company that provided a night boating adventure. I booked us 2 tickets for the following evening. We did a few hikes the next day, and then got ready to go on our boat trip. We were in the desert, and the temperatures had dropped a few days earlier. We knew that once we got on the water, it would be colder. Once the sun set it would be freezing. We decided to dress warmly. When we arrived at the dock, we collected our tickets. When we got on the boat, one of the staff members handed each of us a blanket. I was pleased we would have some extra warmth on what looked like would be a chilly journey. When the couple behind us stepped up to the staff member, they were handed only one blanket for the the two of them. The staff member said, “you are a couple so you only get one blanket.” I thought the staff member was kidding, but he wasn’t. Then he said, “you can snuggle up together so you only need one blanket.” I snickered to myself. “What if they get in a fight while they’re on the boat?” I thought. My ex-husband and I would often argue (that’s why he’s my ex). There were plenty of occasions where we went into an event holding hands and left with 6 feet between us. I wondered if any of those feuding couples would end up on our boat. I wondered about Jane and I. We were a couple of friends, nothing more. But what if we were more? Would we have turned in one of our blankets to honor the “one couple, one blanket” rule? It seemed so silly.
The next day Jane and I went to breakfast. At the restaurant, 2 men walked in and sat in a booth together. “Are they one blanket or two?” I asked Jane. Then 3 men walked in and sat in a booth together. “How many blankets do they get?” I wondered.
Moving through the trip, I was always wondering about people and how many blankets they would receive. What about families with children? I know there were children on our boat, but I didn’t notice if they got their own blanket or not.
The motel room we were staying in was tiny. It had 2 queen beds and a small alcove of a kitchen. The kitchen contained a sink, a little refrigerator, and a microwave. There was no place to sit in the room. The closet was an even smaller alcove with no door. There was barely any room to move around. Still, we had our own beds and it was warm enough to sleep. Yes, there was even a bathroom. We weren’t spending that much time in the room (except to sleep), so what did it matter anyway? Still, it would have been nice to have a table to sit at.
One day when we happened to be in the room during the day, Jane was walking through the hall and she noticed the door was open to one of the other rooms. The room had a small table and chairs in it. Perhaps that was an upgrade. When Jane returned to the room, she reported to me that this other room had a table and chairs. She also said that there was only one bed in the room. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “That’s why they have a table. There’s only one bed in the room. That’s a one blanket bedroom. We’re a two blanket bedroom.” I was milking this blanket joke for all I could.
I didn’t stopped there. When we got home, Jane texted me to tell me what a great time she had. I replied saying, “It was wonderful. I love that you are my two blanket partner.”
I am grateful for the wonderful hikes, the tasty dinners, the beautiful wedding, and the amazing vistas. I am also grateful for the jokes. These are memories we can share for years to come.
