|synaptic disunion|

Monday, July 07, 2008

three different ones...

"Why are we here?" he asked. I had come in on the suggestion of a friend because I needed a job, and I had worked at a paint store before. It was 1991, my parents were overseas, and I was running desperately low on cash. The question was, well, odd, I thought.

"You mean, we, as in humanity?" I replied.

"No, we, as in, this store." He countered.

I suppose I should have known that I was different before now, but it really wouldn't occur to me until a few minutes from now, when I was getting back into my car.

"We're here to provide quality products and service to our community." I confidently replied. It was the wrong answer. The right answer? To make money. That's when I knew. I knew I wasn't going to make it in the normal world.

"Fat people are Jolly people!" She said.

"What?" I said, wanting some clarification that she'd actually said this.

"Yeah...fat people are jolly people!" She said again, with even more belief in her eyes.

"No. Fat people are not all jolly...not all of us are Santa." I replied. I like to hope that I left her with a gift that day, but I'll never really know.

"Well, you always have to have progress and growth, right?" she told me, after our discussion of the housing boom of a few years ago.

"No." I said. "Not always. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we're growing too fast, that this whole inflated housing market crashes in a couple of years."

"But we need growth!" She replied emphatically.

"The Oncler said the same thing, until the final Truffula tree was felled, and his world was ruined." The reference was lost on her. I reached across the table, put my hand on her shoulder and said "Truffula trees are what people need...not adjustable rate mortgages and a false sense of ownership. Those are Thneeds...and nobody really needs a Thneed."

How are you different?

: toadman : at Monday, July 07, 2008 |