Not late in the day

Nowadays I have more time to read and dabble in writing but I am far from reaching my reading goals and certainly not my writing goals. It’s so easy to get distracted by text messages, Instagram and articles that pop up on my feed. There are often tasks to be attended to particularly in this digital age when you are required to perform them online. Yesterday evening I was totally flabbergasted when a message popped up on my phone that says that there was a transaction via my credit card and if I did not authorize it I had to call the bank which I did immediately. I was so very upset when the officer from customer service told me that aside from them having to block the card, I had to submit a form for purpose of disputing the transaction and also to get a replacement card. Despite my objection, I was told that was the process and I would have to follow through with that to enable them to investigate the merchant and do the needful. In the meantime the transaction had already gone through. Thankfully it was a small amount nonetheless I will not pay because it was an authorised transaction.

The weekend has slipped by and I have done very little reading hence my irritation when the card incident just completely derailed my plan to read after settling some matters that I had to attend to. This morning my helper told me that she had unwittingly clicked the option for credit card payment when placing the order for dish washing liquid. On realising her mistake she had cancelled the order and opted for cash payment on delivery. She now received the notification that the credit card transaction had been successful, I was aghast that I had to withdraw my dispute report. I ended up having to spend another hour to get hold of the bank customer service and sorted out the matter. I would now have to wait for the replacement card as the previous card had already been cancelled following my request yesterday evening . My card particulars happened to be used once for purchasing a vacuum cleaner and while it had occurred to me that my helper might have been using the card but then she told me that she had placed the order under cash on delivery. The cash amount she mentioned was more than the amount that was purportedly transacted via my card. Also she would have needed the transaction code for any transaction via my credit card to go through, so I thought. Now I have learnt that you do not need a transaction code if it is an authorized transaction in that the card is somehow saved on the merchant’s site for all purchases. It is pertinent that the card is not saved on the merchant’s site.

I am fortunate to have a domestic helper who takes care of the housekeeping chores. Recently after getting our new vacuum cleaner, she seems to be so into vacuuming every corner in the morning that it disturbs my reading. Nonetheless I am thankful that she is doing all the washing, cleaning and cooking for us.

Here is an exemplary illustration of my aversion to housework.This happened quite many years ago.

It was one of those days when we were in between helpers or that our help was on vacation. That Saturday morning I was half minded about whether to run a quick wash and tumble dry cycle of the small load of the dirty laundry.  I was eager to bring my laundry up to date for the weekend. In my half awake state, I picked up everyone’s laundry around the house, turned on the machine and threw the lot into the washing machine. I  then went to the garden to clear some of the poos that Pebbles, our cocker spaniel did in our backyard. When I sat down to have my cup of coffee, I looked around for the novel I had planned to read and it was not there. I ended up reading another book which  I was also reading at the time. Saturdays used to be a work day. I then got myself ready for work and it was time to take out the spin dry clothes and leave them  out to dry in the sun. I was feeling pleased that I had been efficient until I lifted the top of the washing machine to find bits of  newsprint stuck to the wash. To my horror, I had thrown the missing book into the wash. It was a  fiction entitled ‘The Dirty Girls’ Social Club’ and written by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez . It is about friendships between six Latina women who continued to meet up regularly after graduating from the Boston University. To my dismay,  I had to pick up the “washed and mutilated book and  ended up spending another hour or so to remove all the dried paper stuff.  At that time my elder daughter came to her mother’s rescue and she had a good chuckle. When I wanted to get a replacement copy of the novel, she stopped me from purchasing the last available copy of the book at MPH bookstore as she had a plan of her own. She and her sister acquired the last available copy  in the bookshop as a Christmas gift for their mother. Bliss.

Last weekend, I managed to take stock of my books and also give away a few books to an independent bookshop. In the course of browsing through our bookshelves, I’m glad to have found this copy of So Late in the Day a novella Claire Keegan. Some weeks ago , a friend wanted to read Small Things like These by the same author, I mentioned that I had read the author’s writing before. Then I thought I might have confused myself with a novel by Tess Hadley. I ended up reading again So Late in the Day. It is only forty-seven pages.

Friday, July 29th, a sunny day. Dublin has ‘got the weather that was forecast‘. After an uneventful day at the office, Cathal faces into the long weekend and takes the bus home. His mind agitates over a woman named Sabine, with whom he was supposed to get married if he had acted differently. All evening, with only the television and a bottle of champagne for company, thoughts of Sabine and others intrude and the true significance of this particular is revealed.

More than two years ago, Cathal met Sabine at a conference in Toulouse. ‘She was petite and brown-haired with a good figure and green eyes which were not quite properly aligned, a little bit crossed. He’d been drawn to how she was dressed : in a skirt and blouse of slate blue, how she seemed at ease in herself but alert to what was around her.’

They started spending time on weekends when she visited him in Arklow and she prepared dinners for both of them. They were getting close to being married but Sabine had a change of heart because it dawned on her that he was calculative and not giving.

Here is part of an exchange between Cathal and Sabine.

‘ You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?‘

‘So I’m a misogynist now?’

‘It’s simply about not giving,’she said.’Whether it’s believing you should not give us the vote or not give help with the dishes-it’s all clitched onto the same wagon.‘

‘Hitched,’Cathal said.

‘What?’

‘It’s not “clitched”,’he said.’It’s “hitched.”.‘

‘You see?’ she said.’Is this not just more of it?’ You knew exactly what I meant- but you cannot even give me this much.’

The story asks if a lack of generosity might ruin what could be between men and women. It also asks the question : While things may be changing, but a good half of middle-aged men may ‘just want the women to shut up and give the men what they want and they are spoiled and turn contemptible when things don’t go their way. ‘

Claire Keegan‘s prose is succinct, grounded and powerful. Her observations about social dynamics are insightful.