Sometimes I have these moments in which I find the experiences of others super interesting and I act as a collector of these memories. Part of it is a sincere interest to know the person's story, but another (at times bigger) part is saying "this would work well in a story".
While on break at work one of my co-workers got off the phone and did that kind of talking to oneself yet aloud thing, essentially expressing exasperation about a family situation. But then she says a sentence that include "...my parent are both addicts..." and my ears might as well have jumped over the table, my interest so piqued. I didn't expect to hear something like that from someone around my age. Upon my inquiry, she explained that her father was clean now but had been addicted to crack while her mother has been addicted to many a drug with cocaine, meth, and pills making headline appearances.
It was a bit baffling to hear her talk about it so nonchalantly, so I questioned how her childhood was and she told me in that same matter-of-fact tone that her mother was never particularly loving and was often selfish. Even now with her ten year old sister, my co-worker wishes she could her take in or away from her mother, but has no means to do so and also has resentment for being made to feel responsible for her sibling when ultimately she is her mother's responsibility.
On this occasion my co-worker was talking to a family member who received a text from the mother asking for "three 30s", water, and some other seemingly bizarre items. My co-worker suspected it was code for drugs and intended for a friend but accidentally sent to the family member. The lot of us in the break room tried to figure out was "three 30s" could be but none of us believed what my co-worker's mother eventually claimed they were: money orders. "Money orders are for paying bills and none of the bills she pays are 30 dollars". In all this though, I became more interested in my co-worker's personality and mind set than either of her parents' history.
Then I got to talking to another co-worker who works garden, a woman in her 40s who has this way about her that is laid back and casual and yet humorous and smart. We have talked about her sex life before in the broadest way, that she had a booty call of sorts. So I asked how it was going and she said that is kind of fizzled out with...at that point she said a name. I recognized the name, but being the common one that it was, I made a comment about it being a dull one, and she confirmed that she was indeed talking about another co-worker of ours who she has been seeing on and off for 2 and a half years.
It didn't shock me that much, I could see how they would hook up, but I found the dynamic interesting as hell. How do you sustain a sexual relationship with someone over that length of time without it getting messy? Apparently, not very well at times with one highlight memory being her yelling at him while he was naked a taking a piss. "What am I to you?!" she screamed at him. And he meekly responded, all the while hold his dick in his hand, "My best friend..." and how she was the only one who knew him and accepted him. That image in my mind was too classic, the emotions so easy to conjure, and her reaction that little bit of difference from what mine would have been that makes it a character and not an extension. She just had to leave after that.
While on break at work one of my co-workers got off the phone and did that kind of talking to oneself yet aloud thing, essentially expressing exasperation about a family situation. But then she says a sentence that include "...my parent are both addicts..." and my ears might as well have jumped over the table, my interest so piqued. I didn't expect to hear something like that from someone around my age. Upon my inquiry, she explained that her father was clean now but had been addicted to crack while her mother has been addicted to many a drug with cocaine, meth, and pills making headline appearances.
It was a bit baffling to hear her talk about it so nonchalantly, so I questioned how her childhood was and she told me in that same matter-of-fact tone that her mother was never particularly loving and was often selfish. Even now with her ten year old sister, my co-worker wishes she could her take in or away from her mother, but has no means to do so and also has resentment for being made to feel responsible for her sibling when ultimately she is her mother's responsibility.
On this occasion my co-worker was talking to a family member who received a text from the mother asking for "three 30s", water, and some other seemingly bizarre items. My co-worker suspected it was code for drugs and intended for a friend but accidentally sent to the family member. The lot of us in the break room tried to figure out was "three 30s" could be but none of us believed what my co-worker's mother eventually claimed they were: money orders. "Money orders are for paying bills and none of the bills she pays are 30 dollars". In all this though, I became more interested in my co-worker's personality and mind set than either of her parents' history.
Then I got to talking to another co-worker who works garden, a woman in her 40s who has this way about her that is laid back and casual and yet humorous and smart. We have talked about her sex life before in the broadest way, that she had a booty call of sorts. So I asked how it was going and she said that is kind of fizzled out with...at that point she said a name. I recognized the name, but being the common one that it was, I made a comment about it being a dull one, and she confirmed that she was indeed talking about another co-worker of ours who she has been seeing on and off for 2 and a half years.
It didn't shock me that much, I could see how they would hook up, but I found the dynamic interesting as hell. How do you sustain a sexual relationship with someone over that length of time without it getting messy? Apparently, not very well at times with one highlight memory being her yelling at him while he was naked a taking a piss. "What am I to you?!" she screamed at him. And he meekly responded, all the while hold his dick in his hand, "My best friend..." and how she was the only one who knew him and accepted him. That image in my mind was too classic, the emotions so easy to conjure, and her reaction that little bit of difference from what mine would have been that makes it a character and not an extension. She just had to leave after that.
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