I was sitting in a comfortable chair on the 9th floor of a 14-story office building in northeast Dallas, waiting for my contact to arrive. He was bringing with him a DVD containing roughly 1000 years of geneological data for a client of mine, gleaned from a failing hard drive. He did this at no charge, in exchange for some good will and future prospects. Therefore, I cut him some slack for leaving the 9th floor to run some errands immediately after I told him I would be right over. People always underestimate the time (and money) it’s going to take to get things accomplished. State contractors live off this principle, unless they’re in Texas. In Texas, stuff gets done 3 years in advance because it never snows.
So as I was sitting there casually reading the latest copy of the Dallas Sports Page and wondering who invented hockey, this dude walked up to the receptionist’s desk. I was located about 10 feet away from their conversation, so I could hear the whole thing without even trying. The guy appeared to be in his mid-30′s, and was wearing a yellow polo shirt, non-pressed khakis, and a full head of well-groomed brown hair (for some reason, I notice these things). He was leaning on the bar-like desk of the 50ish, professional. and vaguely motherly receptionist, who you just can tell the office wouldn’t function without. They had the following paraphrased conversation, though not paraphrased much:
Dude (D): Hey, just so you’re in the loop, I wanted to tell you this…
Receptionist (R): Mmmkay.
D: You remember that girl I went out with a few times last summer? The one with the four kids?
R: Um…I don’t…Ok, I think I remember. Sally, wasn’t it?
D: No, no, no. Sally had the two kids. The girl I’m talking about, her name is Annie. Remember?
R: Umm…kinda…
D: You know, we went out a few times, she never seemed all that into me, so we stopped?
R: Oh, right, right…Yeah. Annie.
D: Well, you know we had that party last Friday, at the clubhouse, me and 3 friends.
R: Right.
D: Well, she showed up there, and was totally acting like we were boyfriend-girlfriend — hanging around me the whole time, being really flirty. Her four kids were running all over the place, having a great time.
R: Mmmkay.
D: The thing is, one of my friends totally has a crush on her. He was like, “Did you see her? She looked great tonight.” I was like, “Yeah, I saw her.”
R: I see.
D: So I went to the bathroom, and got caught up talking to some people, and she left. My friend’s like, “I got her number…but I’m not going to give it to you.” He was being so stupid.
R: Well, it’s not like…
D: Right, it’s not like I need her number, right?
R: Plus, she lives like…
D: Like 8 doors down from me, right. I was like, “No, I don’t need her number, man.” He was being so stupid.
R: I’m remembering more about her now…didn’t you say the 4 kids scared you?
D: Yeah, totally at first. But they’re good kids, you know. And only 3 of them are living with her now. One’s off at school.
R: So are you going to see her again?
D: Yeah, this weekend, we’re having another party at the clubhouse. I just got off the phone with her…she’s going to totally be there.
R: Well, that’s great.
D: Yeah, I think…(phone rings) Ok, see ya!
My thoughts? I’m glad to not be in the single world, and especially in this USA single world. I don’t know why, but I felt this conversation gave me a window into our sadness somehow…but I tend to think that a lot.
