Thursday, February 22, 2007

I left work a little late last night, and right before I did, I saw one of my co-workers leaving. We had the usual b.s.-I'm-about-to-leave-work convo in the hallway, and then I said have a goodnight, and right before we separated, she said to me, "I will God-willing". After that she caught her elevator, and left my sight. I don't know why, but for some reason her saying that was eerie. I found myself wondering if she knew something that I didn't, or did she know that possibly wouldn't make it to the next morning. Then I wondered how weird I would feel the next morning, if she had passed away, and her last words to me were "I will, God willing". Perhaps that's a bit selfish of me, but it crossed my mind. I've yet to see her this morning, but I am REALLY rooting for her to make an appearance.

About 9 years ago, I was working late the day before Thanksgiving, and as I left the building I remembered that I had forgotten something. When I went back up to my office, I saw this guy Dozier. Now Dozier was a brother about twice my age, and he had been laid off from his previous job, so now he was stuck doing cold calls on the phone. As a result, Dozier was kind of bitter, and he NEVER spoke to me. He would grunt and nod, but he only spoke to certain individuals and I didn't happen to be one of them. I was 23 at the time, and eager to be friendly, and he wasn't having it. Well on this day, when I went back to my office, Dozier was catching the elevator down as I was going up. He saw me, smiled with his unlit cigarette in his mouth, and said, "Hey man, I want you to have a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday, and we'll see you next Monday". A million and one smart comments came to mind, but I just said thank you and kept it moving. Monday morning I came into work, and my boss told me that Dozier had died of a massive heart attack on Thanksgiving day no less. All I could think about what his smile and kind words, and it was eerie for me to go to work all week. Our job gave us the option of going to his funeral, but I passed on that. Even back then, funerals were a bit too creepy for me, and to me, we had shared our goodbye at the elevator. I saw all to say, I hope this doesn't happen again today.

Why is it possible that you can have a conversation with ONE person, and they end it by saying, "WE'LL see you". how does one person morph into a group like that?

Switching gears totally, my ladyfriend finally arrives in DC today. When you spend most of your time on the telephone the way we do, there's always a hint of nervousness when you finally do reconnect. I have no doubt that the chemistry we have on the phone, and we've had in the past face to face, will reveal itself. Still, I'll be glad when it actually happens. If I don't write an entry tomorrow, you'll know she put it on me something fierce, and it left me unable to work, walk or type.

The way Larry Graham plucks the bass in this song is incredible, and it is the main reason why I like this song.

(You Caught Me)Smiling - Sly and the Family Stone

2 comments:

Miss. Lady said...

Ummm why are we being so morbid this morning?! It is beautiful day man! The birds are chirping and the sun it out, shining bright and you want to be morbid.

It is about time you shared the song with the world. I liked it better than the other one. :) Have a nice day!

Jo said...

Maybe he knew he wasn't going to see you and thought that he should finally be nice to you!