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On Not Seeing Hamilton

2016-11-22 · story · John · 3:19 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, self promotion

For Thanksgiving, John tells how an esophageal blockage cancelled his and Sarah's trip to see Hamilton, and how a hospital transporter, Carmen, reminded him he had "the basics covered", later reappearing as his spin instructor; kindness to strangers can mean a great deal.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Thanksgiving week: a story of gratitude

00:00:05 — Hamilton tickets from Sarah; the airport sandwich; eosinophilic esophagitis; luck and privilege; hospital, refunds, foul mood and the unreliable body

  • ★★ John says Sarah got him tickets to see Hamilton in New York City; both are huge fans who have played the cast recording hundreds of times, and they planned galleries and old haunts. — 00:00:05 · Sarah Urist Green, New York City
  • ★★★ At an Indianapolis airport bar, as they debated messaging Lin-Manuel Miranda, John took a bite of a sandwich and knew they would not see Hamilton. — 00:00:24
  • ★★★ John says he has eosinophilic esophagitis: mild-ish inflammation that occasionally lets food stick in his esophagus, so he vomits every two or three minutes for hours until a doctor clears it. — 00:00:42
  • ★★★ John says layers of luck and privilege surround the misfortune: affording Broadway and travel, a loving spouse, and medical care that makes a blockage an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. — 00:01:05
  • ★ They left the airport for the hospital; the Hamilton tickets found a happy home and Delta was amazingly cool about refunding the flights. — 00:01:22

  • ★★ John says his foul mood came partly from vomiting and partly from being reminded that what he thinks of as himself depends wholly on an unreliable machine, his body. — 00:01:32

    “what I think of as myself is in fact wholly dependent upon an unreliable and unpredictable machine called my body”

00:01:44 — Carmen wheels him to endoscopy: "you've got the basics covered"; he wakes thinking it; he is loved

  • ★★★ A hospital worker, Carmen, wheeled John to endoscopy, asked about his wife, kids and job, and concluded "you've got the basics covered"; he woke thinking the same. — 00:01:44

    “Well, you’ve got the basics covered.”

  • ★★★ John says he has thought about that day and Carmen many times: he loves his friends and family and is loved by them; he has the basics covered. — 00:02:17

00:02:24 — New health and fitness show 100 Days with his best friend Chris, starting January 1

  • ★★ John says he and his best friend Chris have just started filming their new health and fitness show 100 Days, starting January 1 at youtube.com/100days; they exercise six days a week. — 00:02:26 · 100 Days

00:02:40 — A 5:10 a.m. spin class: Carmen is the instructor; gratitude; kindness to strangers

  • ★★★ Last Wednesday (16 November 2016) John woke at 5:10 a.m. for a spin class and found Carmen was the instructor; it was an excellent class. — 00:02:40
  • ★★★ John says this Thanksgiving he is grateful to Carmen: when you are kind to strangers you never know what it will mean to them, but sometimes it means a great deal. — 00:02:58

00:03:09 — End screen: old Thanksgiving videos and a self-care bunny from Rosianna

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Carmen · eosinophilic esophagitis · Hamilton (musical)

Also: People: Chris Waters · Lin-Manuel Miranda · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: 100 Days

Organizations: Delta Air Lines · Twitter

Concepts: social privilege

Places: Indianapolis International Airport · New York City

Events: Thanksgiving

Only in the description or credits: Rosianna Halse Rojas

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