I Think I’ve Used Up My Allotment of Emotion for This Lifetime
Posted by harlan on 25 Jul 2008 at 02:06 pm | Tagged as: talking to the void
I miss Celexa. I know that it was augmenting my self-destructive inclinations, but at least I felt like I was going somewhere. Where? I didn’t know. But "somewhere," even an unknown somewhere, feels more purposeful than just idling the engine.
What the hell am I even talking about? That paragraph didn’t make any sense at all. I’m going to leave it there, though, because it illustrates my point.
No, it doesn’t illustrate a point. For a minute I thought it illustrated my point, but I look back now and can see that so far, I’m three paragraphs into a post that starts nowhere, doesn’t know where it wants to go, and doesn’t realize when it’s gotten there. I’m like a blind dog: I’d chase my tail, but I don’t even know where that is.
I think maybe I should just stick to just telling a simple story right now. I think I can hold a story together, as long as I just keep the chronology correct.
Mary and I had lunch yesterday, for the first time in about three weeks. I’ve been canceling the lunches, saying I have a lot of work to do, but yesterday Mary said she needed to talk.
So we went to a Thai place. I got chicken mussaman curry (their "one-star" version, which means it’s supposed to be mild, but it still makes my forehead sweat) with sticky rice.
She got something else. I can’t even remember what exactly it was, except the English translation for it was ridiculous. Something like, "Eggplant Delight." But I don’t think it’s important what she ate, to tell the truth.
Anyway, we spent the first five minutes talking about how I’m different (again) somehow. Like I’m less angry, but also like I’m not happy.
"Find me one happy person in the world. One." That’s what I should have said, but it didn’t occur to me until just now. Besides, what good would it have done? It’s not like Mary was trying to prove to me that there are a lot of happy people in the world.
Ha. Far from it.
Mary told me that one of the Sales guys in our company, let’s call him Joe, was making her life miserable. He’s one of the worst kind of people, she said: someone who’s good at detecting gay people, and is also homophobic.
No, homophobic isn’t the right word. Homophobics are the ones who are afraid of homos. Joe isn’t afraid of homos, he just hates them. Homo-hating. I’m sure there’s a word for it, but I can’t remember what it is. I should look it up. Later, maybe.
Anyway, Joe constantly teases Mary with references to gayness and hypocrisy and whether when the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike (dyke, get it? Ha ha) it (she) had wished for a little Dutch girl instead.
As Mary’s face got redder and redder, I had the most peculiar sensation: the awareness that I ought to feel something, but didn’t. So I faked it. I’ve been faking a lot of things lately.
I don’t think Mary expected me to do anything about Joe. She knows what a fantastic brawler I am (ha), and she knows that I’m not going to confront Joe, so really I think she just wanted to vent a little bit.
But here’s what Mary doesn’t know. Or maybe she does know and just didn’t let on, in which case she’s more devious than I would have suspected. Shit, where was I? Oh yeah: What Mary doesn’t (or does) know is that I actually have both motive, means, and opportunity to more than get back at him for what Mary’s done.
Here’s why. Devin (my boss) has emailed me about three times in the past two weeks, wondering whether there’s anybody abusing Internet access at the company. I think he’s looking for a reason to fire someone, because money’s tight. It’s easier to fire someone who deserves it.
Joe, like just about everyone in the company, surfs the web just about nonstop, looking at stuff that has nothing to do with what we sell. In Joe’s case, it’s all about politics. He goes to all the conservative sites, then to the liberal sites to troll them.
To tell the truth, though, Joe’s web surfing patterns are a lot less nasty than Mary’s. So he deserves to be fired, but she deserves it more.
But Mary’s my "friend," I guess. And I can make my life easier, Mary’s life easier, and Devin’s life easier if I out Joe.
Joe’s life, of course, will get harder. But he’s in sales, he’ll find another job soon. Maybe selling cars or real estate or something.
I’ve thought about this as much as I can for right now. I’ll think about it more over the weekend. I already know, though. Joe is toast.
I’m going home. now. I hope my sexual partner will let me just watch TV tonight in peace.
That was one of the most muddled, painful-to-read things I’ve read since I last had the occasion to glance at my car insurance policy.
If the medication is making you incoherent and preventing little Harlan from casting his tiny shadow then it’s time to have that ninny-to-ninny talk with the doc.
And, as far as your sexual partner is concerned, just tell Richard that you’ve got a headache.
I love how Harlan changes abruptly according to the medication he’s on! When he was on Celexa he was all cocky and angry, and now that he is on Paxil he is… huh, retarded?
I like what you’re doing with Joe, though. Actually he could be fired just for being an homo-hater, so you shouldn’t feel guilty at all.
Gotta agree with Asshat, there, Harlan. Get to the doctor.
One constant in your cyclothymic life appears to be the ability to write with incredible clarity and lucidity. Hell, you can write better when you’re drunk than most people can when they’re stone cold sober.
Not so today, kid. Something is definitely wrong.
Being a conservative, Joe’s a totally laizzes faire, wealth of nations type of a guy and will understand that equilibrium of the unfettered, almighty free market is paramount above all else.
Terminate him.
Cyclothymic? Lassiez faire? Sweet Jesus, Herb, did Ernest take over your brain?!
Harlan, all you need is a falooda.
As long as you continue to slap your hand away from your crotch, you’ll have no problem being left alone to watch all the TV you want.
I can’t wait for the stories that will result now that your setting the scene for getting Joe fired. The possibilities are endless, aren’t they little man?
Yipes, Asshat, you’re right. I should do well to heed my own advice. I’ve got an appointment with my gynecologist on Tuesday.
I’m not feeling too well myself. I’m going to eat a falooda and go back to bed.
I agree with Talita. Joe’s already sexually harassing Mary, in itself a firing offense, she should come forth with that, too. and get off the paxil. it keeps you from “getting off”.
I usually object to this type of backstabbing, but in this case I have to agree with Harlan. A sexual harassment charge usually does more damage to the female victim than it does to the male who inflicts the harassment. Once the charge is filed, the company has to investigate, she has to prove he really said what she claimed, and the company has to investigate any counter claims. If the boss is also homophobic, she will lose and her life there will be pure hell. Even if she wins, her tormentor will be given a written warning and will be sent to a “sensitivity” course (actually a week long vacation). Better to give the boss the excuse he wants and send the idiot packing.
So I take it there was no car battery nor duct tape? THAT would have made this interesting. Heck, you should tape Joe to a chair, and force Mary to service a line of women one after another while Joe watches. I mean, as long as you’re messing with his life, you might as well make it count and do society some good as well, you could call him your rehabilitation experiment!
Now THAT would be some good reading.
Joe (The NON sexual persuasion hating version) :)
hi, 1st time here. if you are bi-polar 2 (no mania, just shit) and not fat, Seroquel rocks! my doc took me off of it after i went from a few lbs over underweight to just a few lbs below overweight. now i miss those sleepy, dreamy nights. have been up for 25 hrs…
I’m so sorry, I fell your pain.
I’m very sad right now, I just relized I may never see the love of my life again for as long as my life shall last, And he still thinks were just friends. I e-mail him evey week, and I call him all the time. My life has revolved around this one person for five years, I dreamed of him, and for him on several ocassions, but he is still oblivios. I’ve taken to wearing nothing but black, and wearing eyeliner. I’ve started reading anime and watching (lesbian) porn. I’ve gone off both Ritilin And Paxil cold turkey, and I sit in my room for long streches of time, and listening to political radio stations in the dark. I just want my story out their. Down with Homo-haters. Up with equal rights.
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