The Cruise as a Replacement for Real Life

My wife wanted to go on a cruise so she could take a break and we would have some alone time. I wanted a cruise for the peace, relaxation and to get away from work and normal daily life. I didn't realize how much daily life we all carry around with us. I was amazed and dismayed at the people who had to be first; pushing to be at the head of the line, any line; arguing about who should go first. I was also annoyed at the line police. You know the ones; loudly pointing out the "cutters", using their butts and shoulders to block the hallway to the gangplank or whatever to make sure no one got ahead of them. One example would be when we were going ashore at Grand Cayman. We all met in the theater and filed down a couple flights of stairs to a narrow hallway leading to the gangplank. There was a very large guy who was pushing people out of his way as we were going down the stairs. He mumbled as he passed, "There are some people waiting for me down there." What, they wouldn't be waiting if you just took your time and stayed in line? There was a couple who instead of following our crew guide had to run around to the left and beat everyone down so that they could be first. They were going to be first to get in line to wait for the tender to take them ashore. And then they would be first to stand in line waiting for the excursion guide. And then they would be first to ride, walk or boat their way to whatever excursion they were taking. Why be first? I doubt they could have answered that. And then of course the woman in front of us who had to, loudly, point the couple out to everyone (as if we didn't see already). She complained her way down to flights of stairs and past about 100 cabins of people still trying to sleep (we were in an early batch getting off for excursions). She didn't prevent anyone from getting in front of her but she did manage to annoy a lot of people. All of these people annoyed me and that's what I mean about carrying my daily life around with me. Why did I care about someone cutting in line or someone who made herself feel better by complaining about it? My annoyance wasn't about them. It was about me. It took me two days to realize none of that crap matters. At least not while I'm on a cruise in the western Caribbean. Certainly not when I was about to spend the day in paradise snorkeling with sting rays. Once I came to that realization, I was able to really relax. I enjoyed myself and my time with my wife. Even when we got rained on in Costa Maya and on the garbage scow in Cozumel. But those are stories for later. Tags: cruise vacation caribbean