Different Worlds, Same Family Reunion

For instance:

• “So where are you living now?”
• “Orange County”
• “Wow! Do you just love it out there?”
• “Uh… What kind of answer are you expecting? Like, do you want a real one, or should I just say ‘yes’?”
• [Brief hesitation.] “A real one, of course.”
• “Huh. So I was pretty miserable in New York, but I probably could’ve gotten used to it eventually. Living in Orange County has always seemed tenable to me, though certainly not ideal in all ways, and it’s tough to say ‘love’ when you mean ‘tenable’. Plus, I’ve yet to complete a thorough analysis of all possible places I could live. On the other hand, relative to other places I’ve lived recently, I don’t currently feel the immediate drive to leave that I did in New York or, for various reasons, Utah. In comparison to those two, I suppose it *could* be reasonable to say that I, relative to other places, ‘love’ living in Orange County. That said, I don’t feel exceptionally passionate about the place and a large part of my mind still holds out that there’s somewhere I’d prefer to live — which may or may not actually be the case.”

Also:

• “What do you do for a living now?”
• “Online marketing.”
• “That sounds really interesting.”
• “Uh — you know, sure. I mean, I get paid and I go to meetings and read email and stuff.”
• “Huh.”
• “Yeah, so, it’s all right — it’s kind of like a job.”

Schön wär’ es mal irgendwie anders denken zu können.

bkd

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