I’ve been incredibly lucky to have had steady work from the time I finished school… So for the first time, I’ve found it a bit strange to experience an interruption in my employment. I’ve made some interesting observations about this so far:
1. People who you never hear from call/text to ask how you’re doing.
For serious. Friends of my parents. Cousins I never talk to, acquaintances, that guy I met at a work function… Why now? Nothing’s changed, really. I’m not dying.
2. Your parents express concern similar to the concern expressed when you were 17 and locked yourself in your room because your boyfriend broke up with you for the girl he just met on the internet.
I remember it well. I don’t think I left my bedroom for days. How could Eric* possibly think I’d be willing to wait around for him, you know, the love of my life, the guy I dated all through high school and into his first two years of college, while he went to see if he liked the girl he met online better. I was devastated. My parents were beyond concerned, because I was not that kind of girl. They spoke in quiet voices outside my bedroom door. They’d knock and ask to come in. The awkward ‘how’re you doing?’ conversations. Fragile. Handle with care. The only difference now, they’re knocking on the door of my house, not my bedroom.
3. Your friends treat you as though you’re dying.
They’re all ‘let me help you with that’, touchy-feely and giving you sympathetic looks. They let you get away with just about anything. But underneath it all, you feel that ‘better you than me’ vibe. Urgh.
*Names changed to protect the innocent. Oh, wait. He wasn’t innocent. Yup, that was his real name.