Overheard on the Bus

Really, hand to God, I am not making any of this up.

Blonde bimbo (chatting on her cell, sitting right behind me): ...hi. Yeah, I'm on the bus. No, I was still really nauseous from last night. What? Well, it's kind of funny - he doesn't call me. No, he has a phone, he just doesn't use it. Because it's really expensive, and it costs a lot to use it, and he doesn't want it to be stolen. So he doesn't even take it with him when he goes out. [ *pause*] No, we email all the time, that's how we communicate. [*pause*] No, it's totally serious. You need to understand that, Emily. It IS really serious between us. Yeah, absolutely. We just don't talk. Much.

Last night I texted him at 8:30 and emailed him at 10:30. The only problem is, what if I'm in the emergency room, like I was last night? [*starts laughing*] I can't EMAIL him from the ER, you know, so he wouldn't know! God, that's so funny.

Plus, you know, I'm allergic to his bacteria, which sucks. [*pause*] No, I went to a urologist, and he told me that sometimes people are just biologically incompatible. Yeah, three times in nine months. Sucks, right? But pretty soon I'm going to be on antibiotics. But once I'm on these pills it should be fine. [*pause*] No, I'll have to keep taking them. Like every time, before... right. And he's just gonna have to keep it really clean before we -

WO (standing up to get off the bus, muttering): Girl, the universe is trying to tell you something.

BB: ...hold on. I'm sorry, what?

WO: Excuse me, this is my stop.

BB: Oh, no problem.

I'm feeling a bit better today, despite yesterday's bad news that the hospital had chosen another candidate for the director position. Friends really came out of the woodwork yesterday to be supportive through emails, multiple phone calls, and a few offers to storm the hospital and beat various administrators into submission.

My favorite moments:

* almost immediately receiving an email from Sean, of all people, demanding "Goddamnit! What the hell is wrong with these people?!?"
* Jonathan taking my call on his lunch break and just letting me talk and cry. Sniff.
* Margaret telling me I'd dodged a bullet, because clearly the people there were MORONS, and therefore it was fortunate that I wouldn't have to deal with their moronosity.

One sign that I'm actually kind of low at the moment is that I called my Mom this morning, and that's been a crap shoot for many years. She could be supportive, she could be kind of aloof and unapproachable. You just couldn't be sure. But - in large part, since she's gone through her battle with breast cancer and been accountable for some things and tried to make up for some of her choices and really work for forgiveness - she was really there for me today, which was wonderful. She was supportive and encouraging and told me to not give up on myself, and that it had nothing to do with me personally, and so on and so on. All the things you hope to hear from your Mom when you're in a situation like that. And she was really very sad and disappointed for me, which was also nice.

And that helps me to feel a bit better today. My heart doesn't hurt quite so much.