Hurty-hurt

[tummies]

So last night at the gym, I was running on the treadmill. When there is no one waiting for a machine, I run 40 minutes even though the posted limit is 30 minutes. Yesterday, when I was at 30 minutes and counting, this guy comes into the room. Let me describe him for you. Physically, he is small, skinny, compact, white as parchment, with pale hair

Comments

[aaaaaames]

oh my god, Monica, that guy sounds like he has about a 2-inch dick. no, that's being generous. i think he has all head, no shaft. and it's partially inverted.

honestly, it's people like that that make me cringe when I do something like explode at a Gap employee--I have NEVER been that rude to someone, but even just being unnecessarily huffy to someone who's serving you in a store gives me pause.

now for my story, not as bad as yours but it occured at an awkward, formative time for me:

I was 15, attending my first Ani diFranco concert, and one of my first concerts ever, in Battery Park. I was really excited but also self-conscious that I was such a straight-edged Gap-wearing preppy in a crowd of free spirits. My friends and I were singing along to the music, blissful, when this girl turned around and said to us, "I didn't pay $35 to hear you sing. You can't sing like Ani so shut up." My first thought was, "Actually, I have a very nice voice." But I think I half-heartedly whispered something like, "I'm allowed to sing," but I spent the rest of the concert silent, feeling like I didn't belong there.

It's nice to be older now and have the confidence to know that you're not wrong, and some people are just mean and small. You are a very happy, very generous bitch, Monica.

[tummies]

You know, that's the crazy thing...I've been on both sides of public exasperation so many times. I've been the metaphorical Gap shopper and the Gap employee; though I've never exploded, I have gotten huffy.

I'll admit I was a bit of an asshole in the theater on Sunday. I was on a self-date, watching a matinee of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which of course is basically holy meditation for me. I got there early. I set myself up with popcorn on one side and Diet Coke on the other. I'd picked a perfect seat in the exact center. It was one of the few times I allowed myself the luxury of control - I do, on self-dates; I don't ask others to suffer my special needs. Then this mother, father and kid come in twenty minutes late. I see them hovering at one end of the aisle, so I put my hood up. Seeing this, of course they sent the KID to ask me to move over so they could sit together, even though there were other seats available. I huffily got up and moved. My reverie disrupted. The kid thanked me several times and then I felt very bad. I wanted to say "sorry I was an asshole; I act that way when I see movies like this; everything has to be perfect, which is why I see them alone..."

I'm sorry that happened to you, Ames. You DO have a very nice voice. I never ever skip over "Straighten Up" or the Sarah Maclachlan song you sing. On the contrary I am pretty much spellbound.