Young Chirpy Curves Attendant: So how are you today?
Me (panting): I’m fine.
YCCA: Good! And did you have a wonderful Mother’s Day?
Me: Uhm….sure…
YCCA: It was a gorgeous day, wasn’t it? Did you do anything special?
Me (in my head): Well, my mother died.
Me (in reality): Uhm, just spent the day with family.
YCCA: Well, I’m glad you had a great day!
I can think of some people who would have taken a degree of perverse pleasure in actually saying what was in my head, but I just can’t be that mean. It would have devastated her! She was young and naïve and innocent and totally unprepared for that possibility. I just can’t take pleasure in somebody’s discomfort. (But it was a little bit tempting, since she was also rather annoying with her chirpiness).
My day at work was actually quite boring – I should have just stayed home another day, but I would have felt guilty doing that. Turns out I didn’t need to feel guilty. The first thing my boss said to me this morning was, “You shouldn’t even be here! You should just go home!” Well, I really figured that being busy and absorbed in work would be good for me, but then she took off for one of our other offices for the day, plus the other marketing coordinator was off doing a field trip with her (troubled) son. So I was it! And I really had nothing to do! That will change tomorrow once we’re all together again and I start working on my proposal, but today was pretty much a waste. I did leave a couple of hours early (with my boss’s blessing) and went to Curves. (It felt good to sweat, strange as that sounds).
However, when I got home, the cleaning lady was still here and so I got to sit at my laptop with Mexican Polka music blasting on her radio. Mein Gott. I mean, I enjoy some of the sultry salsa music, but Mexican Polka? (I swear, that’s what it sounds like, accordion and all).
But it is SO VERY NICE to have a clean house!
