Hi friends! According to my blog stats, ALL of my current readers are American, and so, my fellow Americans, happy 4th of July! Whee! Land of the free and home of the brave...
This weekend's blog post comes courtesy of my fictional roommate Sal and me philosophizing and such. I hope you enjoy it.
Have a great weekend!
Jane
***
Sal continued to work at the
magazine and look for something, anything,
elsewhere. She had a few phone interviews and a few meetings by Skype. Few
things had gone past the first stages, and some positions that she interviewed
for were actually not filled due to other organizational needs.
I was grateful for her company in
the townhouse, even though at times we degenerated into people who grunted
instead of talked to one another.
“I feel like we’re Golden Girls,
only way younger,” I confided.
“Exactly! We should be all Sex and
the City, and yet we’re No Sex in the Country. What is up with that?”
“You should write about it on your
blog,” I joked.
“That blog!” she exclaimed. “I don’t know what else to do with that
blog. I’ve finally started writing tips and
recipes for dinner parties. I have given up! Recipes! That’s like waving the
white flag!”
We laughed.
“I didn’t know you’d run out of
ideas. And yet, I see you every weekend, all weekend, here in your sweats. I’m
sorry, I should have figured it out sooner.”
“My life had a lot more sparkle
before. I worry that I’ll never get it back.”
“I do, too,” I told her. “I worry
that I’ll forget how to have a conversation sometimes. I went so long without
it. Will I be able to move on and be successful somewhere else? I’ve been here
so long that I don’t know. I haven’t had the chance to try for something I
wanted in so long that I wonder if I’ll be able to. Will I come across as even
vaguely competent? And it seems like that would be the case, right? That I’d be
paralyzed with fear once my time here had a chance of coming to an end.”
“Wow,” said Sal. “Thanks for giving
me something else to worry about, Jane.”
“Sorry,” I said, laughing. “And you
shouldn’t feel nervous. You interview for stuff all the time. You’re actually
going for it. I haven’t even found the energy to get as far as you are with
your search.”
“You’ll get there. One thing at a
time, right?”
“Who wants a drink?” I asked. “We
have rum and…” I searched the refrigerator, “ginger ale.”
“Yes please.”
I poured the two drinks and mixed
them with a butter knife, which I threw into the sink full of dishes that were
soaking. As I handed her a drink, my cell phone rang.
“I bet it’s Diva,” I said as I
reached for my phone, which slipped out of my hand and into the dish water.
“Oooh, crap!”
“Was that your phone?” Sal asked.
“So sorry,” she said, as she stifled a laugh. “That phone was ancient, though.
Is it ruined? You can get a better one now!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “I guess I’ll
need to now.” The phone’s internal light sputtered and then died. Although I
wiped it off several times, water continued to leak from the inside.
“I can help you pick one out!” Sal
said. She loved to shop, in any case.
“For now, can you text Diva and
tell her that I’ll call her when I can?”
“Sure. So, did you know that you
can check email and have internet on your phone even when you’re at places like
work where you’re not allowed to look at that stuff on your computer? It opens
up a whole new world. You can respond to people quicker and it’s easier to keep
up with your job search. Trust me. I couldn’t live without mine. I wouldn’t
steer you wrong.”
“OK, OK, I hear you. I’ll get a
smarter phone this time.”
“Good.”
We spent the rest of the night
shopping online until I put through an order for a replacement. Sal, who loved
to shop, was more than glad to help.
I also put up an announcement on
Facebook: My phone just took a swim, so if you need me in the next few days,
just leave a message here!
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