Oh god, it still embarrasses her, not because she was wearing a dirndl under her wool jacket, with her black tennis shoes, not even because he was the Libertarian candidate. The man was a fool, a complete fool, uneducated and ignorant. He ran for governor and the state gave him a solid 10% of the vote.
But it was a beautiful afternoon anyway, and the polling place was just down the block from her apartment. She brought her lease and she brought her driver’s license and, because she wasn’t sure, she brought her passport and her social security card (even though her middle name was misspelled on it). And afterwards, she wore the sticker, proud, and jumped on the 30 bus downtown, to the German restaurant she worked at.
Showing posts with label A life in 20 firsts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A life in 20 firsts. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Ultimate Frisbee
To be fair, she’d never found him that good looking, but he was popular, sort of, and an Ultimate Frisbee sensation. He had bad taste in movies and music and he played video games too often, his pants were always too short, he was pigeon-toed and he had a faint hairlip.
But all that was only clear twn years later, when she heard he married some petite Malasian girl. Back when she was 17, she was just so grateful that he paid her attention, that he liked her, and it hurt so much when he didn’t any longer that she thought she would never recover, so she joined an Ultimate Frisbee team, though she hated running fast, and found she actually had a pretty decent forehand, but the team was awful and it lost every single game it played that season, several months after he broke her heart.
She quit before long. She never liked sprinting.
But all that was only clear twn years later, when she heard he married some petite Malasian girl. Back when she was 17, she was just so grateful that he paid her attention, that he liked her, and it hurt so much when he didn’t any longer that she thought she would never recover, so she joined an Ultimate Frisbee team, though she hated running fast, and found she actually had a pretty decent forehand, but the team was awful and it lost every single game it played that season, several months after he broke her heart.
She quit before long. She never liked sprinting.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Filet Mignon
His father made it for her. She thought it was a bit soon to meet his parents, not that she wasn’t flattered and happy about it. He was leaving for a few weeks, on a cross country trip, driving, and really it was more about consolidating obligations than introducing her into his family.
He asked if she would be uncomfortable at their house for dinner.
“Would you?” she wondered.
“It’s hard to make me uncomfortable.”
His father was a cook, by hobby, and a bus driver for special needs students in his retirement after 30 years with the Department of Corrections. He was an excellent cook, and the steak was tender and better than anything she’d eaten in many months. There were also crab legs.
His parents drank a lot, Miller Lite. They were loose and fun and they didn’t ask her many questions, which was nice.
He asked if she would be uncomfortable at their house for dinner.
“Would you?” she wondered.
“It’s hard to make me uncomfortable.”
His father was a cook, by hobby, and a bus driver for special needs students in his retirement after 30 years with the Department of Corrections. He was an excellent cook, and the steak was tender and better than anything she’d eaten in many months. There were also crab legs.
His parents drank a lot, Miller Lite. They were loose and fun and they didn’t ask her many questions, which was nice.
Sidewalk
She told the doctor not to touch her. “I’m going to bite you!” she cried through her clenched teeth.
Later, when her boyfriend noticed the scar on under the left side of her jaw, he asked, “How did your parents handle it?”
“What do you mean?” she said. “They took me to urgent care.”
“No, I mean, were they upset.”
They weren’t. They were never upset outwardly. She demanded their calm, hysterical as she was.
“I was the opposite,” he said. “My mom would cry and I’d have to tell her, ‘It’s all right, I’m going to be fine.’”
The doctor managed to cut away the stitches on her jaw without her attack. It was a bike accident, training wheels and all. One wheel caught in the grass, pushing against the edge of the sidewalk as she tried to move forward. A silent moment of shock and then the high wails of an otherwise shy child.
Later, when her boyfriend noticed the scar on under the left side of her jaw, he asked, “How did your parents handle it?”
“What do you mean?” she said. “They took me to urgent care.”
“No, I mean, were they upset.”
They weren’t. They were never upset outwardly. She demanded their calm, hysterical as she was.
“I was the opposite,” he said. “My mom would cry and I’d have to tell her, ‘It’s all right, I’m going to be fine.’”
The doctor managed to cut away the stitches on her jaw without her attack. It was a bike accident, training wheels and all. One wheel caught in the grass, pushing against the edge of the sidewalk as she tried to move forward. A silent moment of shock and then the high wails of an otherwise shy child.
Mary Janes
It was in one of her molars, in the back of her mouth. Metal, because that’s what they used back then. Her first few would later be replaced– tooth colored.
Afterwards, her mother took her shopping for new shoes, the pretty ones with the buckles she’d liked so much, but she was woozy from the experience (not the Novocain, but the memory of the needle pushing into her gums, of the dentist holding it there, holding), and her legs felt light and wobbly. Her mother told her that if she were brave, if she got through it, she’d get a present. It would be wrong, of course, to fault the girl for her sweet tooth with her mother parked nightly on the couch with a bag of Maple Nut Goodies.
It was a word the girl didn’t like, ‘goodies,’ and would never like, thought the candies were pretty good.
Afterwards, her mother took her shopping for new shoes, the pretty ones with the buckles she’d liked so much, but she was woozy from the experience (not the Novocain, but the memory of the needle pushing into her gums, of the dentist holding it there, holding), and her legs felt light and wobbly. Her mother told her that if she were brave, if she got through it, she’d get a present. It would be wrong, of course, to fault the girl for her sweet tooth with her mother parked nightly on the couch with a bag of Maple Nut Goodies.
It was a word the girl didn’t like, ‘goodies,’ and would never like, thought the candies were pretty good.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Petty Theft
It was at the Video Station, in the strip mall a few blocks away from her parents’ house– evenings and weekends, junior and senior year of high school. When she applied, she accidentally checked the box that said she was over eighteen, but it wasn’t a problem.
Over a dozen years later, she would fall in love and find that her boyfriend also worked at a Video Station, though the one across town and about five years earlier. They laughed as they recalled how many movies they stole. VHS. She didn’t tell him that she also stole money directly out of the register. One night she took $60, tucking it up the sleeve of her sweater.
Over a dozen years later, she would fall in love and find that her boyfriend also worked at a Video Station, though the one across town and about five years earlier. They laughed as they recalled how many movies they stole. VHS. She didn’t tell him that she also stole money directly out of the register. One night she took $60, tucking it up the sleeve of her sweater.
Grocery Shopping
When they were younger, he said she might look great with grey hair, that thick beautiful silver stuff. “Don’t dye it,” he said. “Not right away. Wait and see.” But when she started to see it, she panicked. It was earlier than she’d imagined, right after the baby. That girl, that baby made her hair go crazy for a few years. It went from a light brown to a dark brown to a very very red brown. Then she started to see them, especially at her scalp.
They had a plan, but that was decades down the road. She wished it sooner, but they had a plan for their sixties, a plan to enjoy getting old together, falling apart. She would wear nothing but black cocktail dresses and dye her hair navy blue, or deep purple, or burgundy, and cut it in a dramatic pageboy. He said that, to complement her, he would wear bib overalls every day. They would, in their sixties, go everywhere together, like that– the movies, grocery shopping. When they were younger they decided they would enjoy getting older.
They had a plan, but that was decades down the road. She wished it sooner, but they had a plan for their sixties, a plan to enjoy getting old together, falling apart. She would wear nothing but black cocktail dresses and dye her hair navy blue, or deep purple, or burgundy, and cut it in a dramatic pageboy. He said that, to complement her, he would wear bib overalls every day. They would, in their sixties, go everywhere together, like that– the movies, grocery shopping. When they were younger they decided they would enjoy getting older.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monopoly
Just out of the fifth grade, she played Monopoly with her parents- one of the few times they were willing to play this game, her favorite. "There's no guarantee that Monopoly will ever end," her mother whined.
But when it did end, and our girl won, Mother bent down next to her at the dining room table, running a hand up her shin. "You've been shaving your legs, haven't you?"
Mother didn't mean to be cruel, but the girl was humiliated, as if she'd been caught rubbing herself against the corner of her bed. She hid under her bed for the rest of the day, listening to popular radio, loud, songs repeating ever couple of hours.
Her father brought her peanut butter crackers. He said, "It's really no big deal."
But when it did end, and our girl won, Mother bent down next to her at the dining room table, running a hand up her shin. "You've been shaving your legs, haven't you?"
Mother didn't mean to be cruel, but the girl was humiliated, as if she'd been caught rubbing herself against the corner of her bed. She hid under her bed for the rest of the day, listening to popular radio, loud, songs repeating ever couple of hours.
Her father brought her peanut butter crackers. He said, "It's really no big deal."
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Earth Day
Well, it hurt, and she bled, but she just kept on breathing heavy like she was into it, which she was, through the pain, in some way. He only needed a couple of minutes, and was embarrassed afterwards. "I feel like I'm sixteen again," he said. She was thirty and he was thirty-five. He was resting on top of her and after he came, he broke out in a thin layer of sweat. She felt it on his forehead and then she felt it on his shoulders and arms. If that sounds gross, it wasn't. Not then, not to her.
She had to go to the bathroom, had had to go to the bathroom for the previous hour and a half.
It was Earth Day. Does that matter? Does it matter more if they were in Wisconsin?
She wasn't expecting to bleed, because she'd been going to the doctor for a decade now and figured, whatever they did down there should've taken care of that. It hadn't.
Lying on her bed later, he wore a ratty grey sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulder. He said, "I definitely look better with clothes on."
She had to go to the bathroom, had had to go to the bathroom for the previous hour and a half.
It was Earth Day. Does that matter? Does it matter more if they were in Wisconsin?
She wasn't expecting to bleed, because she'd been going to the doctor for a decade now and figured, whatever they did down there should've taken care of that. It hadn't.
Lying on her bed later, he wore a ratty grey sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulder. He said, "I definitely look better with clothes on."
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