Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Coworker Shenanigans
I can't even tell you how elated I was regarding the posting on the "Missed Connections" section of Craigslist, which was obviously about me (refer to the previous entry "Coworker Forwarded This to Me"). I had one of the more horrible weekends of my life prior to this posting - got some pretty bad news on Sunday, and, not to mention (but I will anyway), the events that took place on the previous Friday (refer to "All Because of a Turkey Gobble")... and then this posting - out of that horrible Friday comes this "knight in shining armor" type of feeling. There I was helpless and pitiful while wearing only one sock on my flip-flopped feet, and someone notices me - notices me when I'm disheveled and looking my morning worst. Someone notices how cute it was that this girl (me) was wearing just one sock and was tickled by it - touched. This someone was a decent writer - their style somewhat similar to mine. I could tell their sense of humor was right on par with mine - did it matter what this man looked like? Look!! He's 30!! Only a year older than me, but still older!! Then, I thought, what if this is a woman - a lesbian... Well, then I have a new friend, I guess... I already have lots of friends but here's another... yeah, that's really cool - sigh... BUT surely this was posted by a dude - I convinced myself that it was a dude. I mean, everyone knows that lesbians don't particularly care for one socked mamas.
All the girls in the office were sooo excited for me. Jill, who forwarded the posting to me (she reads Craigslist religiously, especially the "Missed Connections" section - she's hoping - she's single), was jumping up and down - more excited than I was. Sandie described it as fate - it had to be, "Carrie like here you are having like one of the worst mornings ever - when someone like spots you, and it's like love at first sight. Like if that turkey gobble thing hadn't happened, then you would have like had no reason to plead with that parking ticketer person and then you would have like never been spotted!!" I had to admit, it made sense - it was fate. Then there was having to deal with the whole ABC rule ("Always Be Cool"). Should I respond to the posting today or wait three days? (the unspoken but mandatory rule, if you want to be cool) Like I said, my heart was floating to the top of my brain - finally, I find a romantic like myself and just as equally funny and witty. Yes, out of that shit day was born a rose - unexpected, the best kind. I felt as if I was dreaming, already wondering what he looked like, and deciding that mediocre would do, sense he was so well-spoken and funny, I'm sure.
Well, I was about to call all of my girlfriends. Sandie was still in my office, begging me to email him back with the largest smile I have ever seen on her face. Jill was going from office to cubicle expressing her excitement for me, "Hey everybody, can you believe this? How wonderful is this? This guy noticed Carrie last Friday when she got locked out of her apartment and her car got towed." Jen (coworker - not roommate - with neighboring office) seemed to give a shit less - she's pretty grounded, and I think she had some kind of client trouble that day; the shit probably wasn't flowing through the pipes right, and the City was getting pissed - just kidding. Jen's a great engineer - I would trust her with my shit anyday. It was really exciting - I mean this was out of a movie. My horrible Friday seemed like a scene out of a sitcom, and here it was blossoming into a romantic comedy.
Yes, well, I picked up the phone to call Jen, my roommate and soul sister; Dawn, my best friend; Holly, the best friend I go to for life's wisdom; Christine, my best friend who appreciates my cattiness; Jodi, my best and most reliable friend who has no inner voice; Kerry, my sweet and non-judgemental best friend... When, right as my index finger is on top of the 9 button to get an outside line, Jill, Jen, and Sandie gather by my office door. Jill: "Uh, Carrie... well, I made the posting up. It's me. I mean, I knew you were in a bad mood, and I thought this would cheer you up." I was thinking, "Yeah, Jill, it cheered me up alright - I thought there was a purpose for my bad day. But, now I see, that my suffering played a purpose for one of your jokes." I tried my best to laugh it off, but the disappointment shown through my face like a kid's on Christmas day when opening presents and getting clothes instead of some Nintendo game. My ballon of a heart dropped like a dead weight, falling lower than it's former residing circle in Dante's Hell. "Oh, Carrie, we were just kidding. You're not mad, are you? Oh, now, I feel guilty!" exclaimed Jill. Sandie and Jen didn't really much care how I took the joke. Jill was fretting with guilt. She wouldn't stop telling my how guilty she felt. I tried my best to reassure her that everything was cool. I didn't want people to think that I couldn't take a joke - I was just really sensitive at the moment - I probably would have laughed if it had been any other day.
Well, I started to feel guilty that my disappointment was making Jill feel guilty. Great!! Not only am I shot down from being somewhat dumped by an imaginary guy, but now I'm made to feel guilty because I can't take a joke. Jill started pointing fingers, "They were all in on it, Carrie. You can't direct all of this to just me - they played roles too. I mean, Cara thought we should go so far as to arrange a meeting somewhere with this secret admirer once an email correspondace was established, and then we would all be there to surprise you." Well, that's pretty cruel. That hurt the most - my little Cara, thinking of doing such a thing. She's my sweet thing who sits right across the hall from me - we do lunch and crack jokes with one another. We shoot rubber bands at one another across the hallway. I was deflated. But, hey, it's okay - we all need to be "punk'd" every now and then, right?
Jill likes reading my weblog - at least, that's what she says. And, well, the joke played on me makes a great story, so I'm appreciative of her shenanigans. Jill wanted me to include a brief description of her that she wrote up, in case there are any single guys out there (she's cute - but she's not the Cutest Engineer Ever).
Here it is: Delicious (that's if you like fish), wacky, (how about wack job), sometimes neurotic (how about always), always charming (like the bells ringing from an alarm clock), left-handed (right out of her mind), half-Japanese (the other half being monkey), and a civil engineer (not so civil, if you ask me).
Thanks, Jill, for giving me another reason to post an entry into my weblog!!!
All the girls in the office were sooo excited for me. Jill, who forwarded the posting to me (she reads Craigslist religiously, especially the "Missed Connections" section - she's hoping - she's single), was jumping up and down - more excited than I was. Sandie described it as fate - it had to be, "Carrie like here you are having like one of the worst mornings ever - when someone like spots you, and it's like love at first sight. Like if that turkey gobble thing hadn't happened, then you would have like had no reason to plead with that parking ticketer person and then you would have like never been spotted!!" I had to admit, it made sense - it was fate. Then there was having to deal with the whole ABC rule ("Always Be Cool"). Should I respond to the posting today or wait three days? (the unspoken but mandatory rule, if you want to be cool) Like I said, my heart was floating to the top of my brain - finally, I find a romantic like myself and just as equally funny and witty. Yes, out of that shit day was born a rose - unexpected, the best kind. I felt as if I was dreaming, already wondering what he looked like, and deciding that mediocre would do, sense he was so well-spoken and funny, I'm sure.
Well, I was about to call all of my girlfriends. Sandie was still in my office, begging me to email him back with the largest smile I have ever seen on her face. Jill was going from office to cubicle expressing her excitement for me, "Hey everybody, can you believe this? How wonderful is this? This guy noticed Carrie last Friday when she got locked out of her apartment and her car got towed." Jen (coworker - not roommate - with neighboring office) seemed to give a shit less - she's pretty grounded, and I think she had some kind of client trouble that day; the shit probably wasn't flowing through the pipes right, and the City was getting pissed - just kidding. Jen's a great engineer - I would trust her with my shit anyday. It was really exciting - I mean this was out of a movie. My horrible Friday seemed like a scene out of a sitcom, and here it was blossoming into a romantic comedy.
Yes, well, I picked up the phone to call Jen, my roommate and soul sister; Dawn, my best friend; Holly, the best friend I go to for life's wisdom; Christine, my best friend who appreciates my cattiness; Jodi, my best and most reliable friend who has no inner voice; Kerry, my sweet and non-judgemental best friend... When, right as my index finger is on top of the 9 button to get an outside line, Jill, Jen, and Sandie gather by my office door. Jill: "Uh, Carrie... well, I made the posting up. It's me. I mean, I knew you were in a bad mood, and I thought this would cheer you up." I was thinking, "Yeah, Jill, it cheered me up alright - I thought there was a purpose for my bad day. But, now I see, that my suffering played a purpose for one of your jokes." I tried my best to laugh it off, but the disappointment shown through my face like a kid's on Christmas day when opening presents and getting clothes instead of some Nintendo game. My ballon of a heart dropped like a dead weight, falling lower than it's former residing circle in Dante's Hell. "Oh, Carrie, we were just kidding. You're not mad, are you? Oh, now, I feel guilty!" exclaimed Jill. Sandie and Jen didn't really much care how I took the joke. Jill was fretting with guilt. She wouldn't stop telling my how guilty she felt. I tried my best to reassure her that everything was cool. I didn't want people to think that I couldn't take a joke - I was just really sensitive at the moment - I probably would have laughed if it had been any other day.
Well, I started to feel guilty that my disappointment was making Jill feel guilty. Great!! Not only am I shot down from being somewhat dumped by an imaginary guy, but now I'm made to feel guilty because I can't take a joke. Jill started pointing fingers, "They were all in on it, Carrie. You can't direct all of this to just me - they played roles too. I mean, Cara thought we should go so far as to arrange a meeting somewhere with this secret admirer once an email correspondace was established, and then we would all be there to surprise you." Well, that's pretty cruel. That hurt the most - my little Cara, thinking of doing such a thing. She's my sweet thing who sits right across the hall from me - we do lunch and crack jokes with one another. We shoot rubber bands at one another across the hallway. I was deflated. But, hey, it's okay - we all need to be "punk'd" every now and then, right?
Jill likes reading my weblog - at least, that's what she says. And, well, the joke played on me makes a great story, so I'm appreciative of her shenanigans. Jill wanted me to include a brief description of her that she wrote up, in case there are any single guys out there (she's cute - but she's not the Cutest Engineer Ever).
Here it is: Delicious (that's if you like fish), wacky, (how about wack job), sometimes neurotic (how about always), always charming (like the bells ringing from an alarm clock), left-handed (right out of her mind), half-Japanese (the other half being monkey), and a civil engineer (not so civil, if you ask me).
Thanks, Jill, for giving me another reason to post an entry into my weblog!!!
