When I was seven I was 100% convinced my babysitter Linda could talk to birds.
Sheโd whistle at the crows in the backyard, theyโd caw back, and sheโd go โmm-hmmโฆ very interestingโ like she was on a call.
One day I asked what they were saying. Without missing a beat she said, โThat oneโs pissed his neighbor stole his French fries from the McDonaldโs parking lot.โ
I believed her so hard I told the entire school my babysitter spoke fluent bird. My teacher even brought it up at parent-teacher conferencesโฆ in a โyour kid has a great imaginationโ way.
Mom later asked Linda about it. Linda just shrugged: โYeah I make that shit up. Itโs funny.โ
I was devastated for days.
Years later I ran into her at the grocery store. She said โHey! Howโs it going?โ and every cell in my body wanted to demand an explanation about the fries.
I just said โgoodโ and left.
Thereโs nothing on this planet that is so urgent and so necessary that 8 billion people should be working 40 hours per week for 5 decades. For what? To build machines? All I want is a garden.
my friend told me her divorced parents hadn't spoken directly to each other in almost six years. everything went through her. โtell your mother i'll pick you up at six.โ โtell your father i'm keeping the blue suitcase.โ โtell your father he forgot my birthday.โ one christmas, she finally got tired of it. she put both of them in the same group chat and named it: โyour problem, not mine.โ
her mother immediately left...
My office building has a coffee shop on the first floor and there's a guy who sits there every single day working on his laptop. Every day for at least the two years I've worked here. Same table, same order I assume. I've never seen him anywhere else. My coworker thinks he lives there. He's always there when I arrive at 8am and still there when I leave at 5pm. Weekends too - I came in on a Saturday once and there he was. Same table. I wonder what he does. Is he a writer? Freelancer? Just really likes that coffee shop? Does he have an apartment or is the coffee shop his home? I've walked past him hundreds of times and we've never made eye contact. He's always intensely focused on his screen. It's like he exists in a different dimension. The coffee shop guy. A mystery I'll probably never solve.
Back in my prime lover boy days, I once bought a babe flowers and dropped them off at her place. She later texted me asking why I did it. I replied, โWill you get into trouble with your supervisor?โ She said, โNo, but what if my man finds out?โ The simp in me died that day
i love when someone thinks theyโve figured me out because i was nice to them twice. congratulations, detective. you have discovered absolutely nothing. there are rooms in my personality even i donโt visit without a flashlight.
How can you love someone enough to build a family with them, yet somehow not love them enough to commit to marriage? Creating a life together is such a huge decision, and it makes you wonder why some people are willing to share something so permanent without being willing to make that commitment permanent too.
A divorced woman i know started dating again and told her new boyfriend she didn't want someone who was going to โrescueโ her.
he said he understood. a few weeks later, her car broke down on the highway at 11pm. she called him expecting him to come get her.
he asked where she was, called a tow truck, sent her the driver's information, paid the bill, and told her to get home safely. when she got home...