Light, tunnel....I'm almost there!
Greg, the lab technician at work, draws blood for patients. Every day when I check-in patients for his clinic I hear the same thing. Over and over.
Me: "May I help you?"
Patient: "Is the vampire in?" *chuckle*
or
Me: "Good morning, what can we do for you?"
Patient: "I'm here to see the vampire. LOLOLOLOL!!!!"
And then they look at me, like they think they're so clever. Greg draws blood. A vampire sucks blood. Get it? Hee-larious. The first time I heard it I think I just blinked and stared blankly at the patient until he walked away. And considering this is the busiest clinic at the office, I hear this A LOT. At least 10-15 times a day. Multiply that by the 1.5 years I've been there and you can imagine how sick I am of hearing this. For awhile, I used to chuckle to myself to indulge their foolish fantasy of being …well, funny, but over the months it's trickled down from a small laugh, to a smile, onto its current iteration in the form of a nod with the slightest hint of a smirk. I mean, if there was any variation to what these people were saying then I wouldn't mind so much. But no. “Greg’s going to suck my blood today. LMAO!!11!” I guess I just shouldn't expect that kind of originality from Ravenna folk. Pessimistic much? I don’t think so. Have you ever been to Ravenna?
....
ok, maybe I'm a little pessimistic.
My horoscope for Tuesday of last week was a really good one. But of course I can’t find it now. Seriously, why are there so many horoscope sites? And why did I read every one I came across? Ugh. Basically it was along the lines of “lacking energy” “routine is bogging you down” and “you need change in your life” …only, ya know, well written (as well as a horoscope can be anyway). Something about reading it really stuck with me. It was one of the few that I’ve read that fully encompassed what I was feeling. And now that I can’t find it I’m a little upset that I have to describe my feelings myself, haha. There was actually a passage from a David Sedaris book that would’ve complemented nicely what I wrote in the first section, too. Damn, I suck at research. Elusive sentences: 2, Eric: 0
To put it shortly, this summer has been pretty bland. I’ve been working full time since the end of finals week in May and, frankly, it hasn’t felt like summer at all. It’s just an endless stream of days bleeding together into the next not-so-thrilling, same-as-the-day-before day. My job is so bad that I actually tried getting fired for 2 months…only to find out that it’s almost impossible to get fired from my job. Damnit. Yea, I didn’t really think that one through. What with not being able to use that on my resume and the shame/guilt/stares that comes with it, it wasn’t the best plan ever concocted. I could go on for days stating why I hate the place. Needless to say, it’s just a bad environment to be in; one that’s put me in a near constant state of depression/stress/frustration/migraine-induced pain. On top of that, my (two) vacations that I had planned both fell through and I haven’t had a day off since finals. All this adds up to a very worked up, emotional, and angry person that I hardly recognize anymore. Digging through my room the other day I found a letter that a patient wrote to my boss last year thanking me for treating her and her father with such respect and looking like I “truly enjoyed doing what I do”. Next to that, I found a letter that Steve wrote to me when he came to visit…saying how glad he was to meet someone like me, and that he truly is grateful for having become so close to me. Reading those didn’t put a smile on my face, or make me tear up (as is usually the case with all things Steve-related) but instead made my stomach hurt. I feel I’ve become so pessimistic and angry lately that I view that person they wrote about as someone entirely different. And I don’t like that person at all. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not just work that’s had upset lately. It’s a combination of different emotions, really. Relationship woes, constantly thinking back on being in Spain one year ago, and the usual problems at home.
So what does this have to do with a horoscope?
It mentioned “finding yourself”. I read that a few times and decided to do just that. I am going to start doing things for myself, to make me happy…and getting out of this depression I’ve been in for the past few months. First up, I used some of the money I’ve been saving up and finally bought myself a laptop. I’ll skip over the fact that our computer crashing was one of the incentives for buying this, because that’s beside the point. It’s beautiful, and it’s actually helped so far. I’ve needed something that I can get excited about. Just thinking, “Yay, I have a shiny new toy to play with!” has improved my mood already. Even at work, which is saying a lot. Secondly, I decided to do something that I know is an instant happiness booster: traveling. Granted, I can’t quite go to Spain or Boston like I would like, but Ann Arbor is just as nice (and way closer). So here I am now, with my shiny new toy at a local coffee shop near University of Michigan’s campus relaxing and sipping on a medium Spanish latte (not quite Spain, but I’ll take what I can get ;) ) I booked myself a hotel for the weekend and am going to have myself the good time I’ve needed since May. So far, things are looking up.
…now, watch my laptop get stolen and the bubble tea shop burn to the ground.
Me: "May I help you?"
Patient: "Is the vampire in?" *chuckle*
or
Me: "Good morning, what can we do for you?"
Patient: "I'm here to see the vampire. LOLOLOLOL!!!!"
And then they look at me, like they think they're so clever. Greg draws blood. A vampire sucks blood. Get it? Hee-larious. The first time I heard it I think I just blinked and stared blankly at the patient until he walked away. And considering this is the busiest clinic at the office, I hear this A LOT. At least 10-15 times a day. Multiply that by the 1.5 years I've been there and you can imagine how sick I am of hearing this. For awhile, I used to chuckle to myself to indulge their foolish fantasy of being …well, funny, but over the months it's trickled down from a small laugh, to a smile, onto its current iteration in the form of a nod with the slightest hint of a smirk. I mean, if there was any variation to what these people were saying then I wouldn't mind so much. But no. “Greg’s going to suck my blood today. LMAO!!11!” I guess I just shouldn't expect that kind of originality from Ravenna folk. Pessimistic much? I don’t think so. Have you ever been to Ravenna?
....
ok, maybe I'm a little pessimistic.
My horoscope for Tuesday of last week was a really good one. But of course I can’t find it now. Seriously, why are there so many horoscope sites? And why did I read every one I came across? Ugh. Basically it was along the lines of “lacking energy” “routine is bogging you down” and “you need change in your life” …only, ya know, well written (as well as a horoscope can be anyway). Something about reading it really stuck with me. It was one of the few that I’ve read that fully encompassed what I was feeling. And now that I can’t find it I’m a little upset that I have to describe my feelings myself, haha. There was actually a passage from a David Sedaris book that would’ve complemented nicely what I wrote in the first section, too. Damn, I suck at research. Elusive sentences: 2, Eric: 0
To put it shortly, this summer has been pretty bland. I’ve been working full time since the end of finals week in May and, frankly, it hasn’t felt like summer at all. It’s just an endless stream of days bleeding together into the next not-so-thrilling, same-as-the-day-before day. My job is so bad that I actually tried getting fired for 2 months…only to find out that it’s almost impossible to get fired from my job. Damnit. Yea, I didn’t really think that one through. What with not being able to use that on my resume and the shame/guilt/stares that comes with it, it wasn’t the best plan ever concocted. I could go on for days stating why I hate the place. Needless to say, it’s just a bad environment to be in; one that’s put me in a near constant state of depression/stress/frustration/migraine-induced pain. On top of that, my (two) vacations that I had planned both fell through and I haven’t had a day off since finals. All this adds up to a very worked up, emotional, and angry person that I hardly recognize anymore. Digging through my room the other day I found a letter that a patient wrote to my boss last year thanking me for treating her and her father with such respect and looking like I “truly enjoyed doing what I do”. Next to that, I found a letter that Steve wrote to me when he came to visit…saying how glad he was to meet someone like me, and that he truly is grateful for having become so close to me. Reading those didn’t put a smile on my face, or make me tear up (as is usually the case with all things Steve-related) but instead made my stomach hurt. I feel I’ve become so pessimistic and angry lately that I view that person they wrote about as someone entirely different. And I don’t like that person at all. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not just work that’s had upset lately. It’s a combination of different emotions, really. Relationship woes, constantly thinking back on being in Spain one year ago, and the usual problems at home.
So what does this have to do with a horoscope?
It mentioned “finding yourself”. I read that a few times and decided to do just that. I am going to start doing things for myself, to make me happy…and getting out of this depression I’ve been in for the past few months. First up, I used some of the money I’ve been saving up and finally bought myself a laptop. I’ll skip over the fact that our computer crashing was one of the incentives for buying this, because that’s beside the point. It’s beautiful, and it’s actually helped so far. I’ve needed something that I can get excited about. Just thinking, “Yay, I have a shiny new toy to play with!” has improved my mood already. Even at work, which is saying a lot. Secondly, I decided to do something that I know is an instant happiness booster: traveling. Granted, I can’t quite go to Spain or Boston like I would like, but Ann Arbor is just as nice (and way closer). So here I am now, with my shiny new toy at a local coffee shop near University of Michigan’s campus relaxing and sipping on a medium Spanish latte (not quite Spain, but I’ll take what I can get ;) ) I booked myself a hotel for the weekend and am going to have myself the good time I’ve needed since May. So far, things are looking up.
…now, watch my laptop get stolen and the bubble tea shop burn to the ground.