The Impact of Shrapnel

March 2, 2008 - 12:45 PM by


The other night at a Writer’s Meeting I run in Tel Aviv, my pal Liza came up and introduced her friend Gila.

“You know Gila. You blogged her. … she writes My Shrapnel. Remember?”

“Nope,” I replied.

“C’mon. You blogged her.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“Hu uh” I nodded firmly.

“You did. I know you did. I’ll go home and look for the post. And if I’m wrong, I’ll buy you the drink of your choice at the next meeting,” Liza offered.

“Deal”

I started mental-imaging the drink she would buy me straight away. Because I’m not one to forget what I write about & even if I was suffering a wee momentary lapse, “My Shrapnel” is simply NOT the type title that goes MIA.

And I was right. And Liza owes me. But between you and me, in this particular case I doubled my winnings.

Because rare is the occasion that I come across a blog that compels me to finish entry after entry, search through the archives,crave more information or comment aloud (to the chagrin of my cafe comrades).

My Shrapnel is American-born Gila Weiss’ writings following her hospitalization post-Jerusalem suicide bombing in 2002. She began blogging it in January and the result is an eye opener about the embedded shrapnel in her body s-l-o-w-l-y making its way to the skin surface.

But of course, it’s so much more.

It’s a blow-by-blow accounting from her friends of the two days that transpired between Gila’s dinner no-show & their phone calls to Jerusalem’s hospitals and the morgue. It’s her casual insistence that the actual bombing was a very non-dramatic event for her. It’s the plastic surgeon exclaiming with gleeful optimism that “at least” her facial injuries aren’t “catastrophic”.

Gila writes in such an upbeat yet poignant manner that it’s tough to “put down” but sometimes not too comfortable to read.

Her blog intro:

The bombing left me with shrapnel wounds over my entire body aside from my feet. My feet were spared because I was wearing my brown leather Naot brand mini-boots that covered my feet up to right below my ankles. I bought the shoes while I was still in Ulpan. My canvas slip-on’s (purchased before I left the US for about $15) had worn out to the point that they developed actual holes in the toes and people started laughing at me, and so I gave in to the inevitable, and decided to go shoe shopping.

I called my friend Galia for shoe store suggestions and asked my friend Yael to come protect me from my sense of style. We ventured downtown in search of footwear. At first I thought of buying another pair of canvas slip-ons, but then I decided to invest (to the tune of 350 shekels-about $80) in a pair of Naot, on the basis that these shoes would last for years and years and years, during which time period I would not have to look for more shoes.

Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in the diminishing effect that a human bomb has on the lifespan of a pair of shoes. That being said, I can tell all of you interested consumers that Naot-at least the style I had-provide effective protection for your feet against suicide bombers. This is a particularly important detail if you find yourself unidentified for two days and your face is so badly swollen that your own roommate, who has seen you even at your worst moments, cannot recognize you, and has to identify you by your toenail polish.

So despite the loss of my shoes, I am nonetheless pleased with my purchase, and am considering contacting Naot and asking them if by chance they sell leather pants, shirts, gloves, helmets, underwear, bras, and full-face masks for my future outings. I suppose I could go to a sex shop, but I don’t know that the quality would be as high.

Go Read My Shrapnel.

And Liza: Strong Latte with a shot of Kahlua, please. Hell, as a gesture of thanks I’ll buy you one too.

Tags: • Category: Blogging, Life, Politics, Profiles 

Comments

8 Comments on The Impact of Shrapnel

  1. Liza on Sun, Mar 2nd 2008 1:36 PM

    2. Yeah yeah yeah… Of course, without Leon there to supervise, who knows how it’s gonna taste…

  2. Benji on Sun, Mar 2nd 2008 2:42 PM

    3. Hmm…I thought I read about it here too…

  3. Gila on Mon, Mar 3rd 2008 7:48 AM

    4. I think I owe both of you a drink! :) Thanks so much for the kind words…and for organizing the Writers’ Meeting. Liza sent me the link for the group list, so I expect I will run into you again (at which point you two can hit me up for said drinks)…..

    Have a good day.

    Gila

  4. Terah on Tue, Mar 4th 2008 9:06 PM

    5. Thanks for posting – I enjoyed this blog very much.

  5. ck on Wed, Mar 5th 2008 10:39 AM

    6. Oh Gila! She is sooo brave? Isn’t she brave? Ha ha. We love Gila’s writing. I wish we wouldn’t have come across it the way we did though. I would have preferred whimsical meanderings about life in Israel from the perspective of a quirky but lovable olah. But I do so enjoy her perspective. Yeah the terrorists filled her up with buckshot but they didn’t manage to break her spirit. And she’s a legitimately good writer – I’m not cutting her any slack because, boohoohoo, she’s a victim of terror. If we had done so, the terrorists would have already won. Good on Gila for keeping it real and for refusing to be a fucking victim. That image of Gila in Naot designed bondage gear, traipsing around the streets of Jerusalem, well… that cracked me up. Looking forward to more!!

  6. Stephanie on Wed, Mar 5th 2008 12:11 PM

    7. you are cold blooded, dude. But funny cold blooded in a good sorta way and all

  7. Gila on Wed, Mar 5th 2008 11:18 PM

    8. CK,

    I think you just like the concept of bondage gear, full stop.

    :)

  8. Stephanie on Thu, Mar 6th 2008 9:23 AM

    9. I’m witcha on that there opinion, G-Girl….LOL

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