would you be offended…
I was in Boston on Friday, and took a little time off work and sat on the Esplanade, watching sailboats on the Charles River and reminiscing about when I was young.
And out of the corner of my eye I notice a couple of young guys talking to the guy on the next bench. But I’m mostly just watching the sailboats and enjoying the lovely weather and thinking about how much my life sucks.
The next thing I know the aforementioned couple of guys is talking to me. They’re clearly college kids, good looking in a vaguely all-American, if not quite Abercrombie and Fitchy, way, and they’ve got their arms around one another and one of them says, “Excuse me, but if we were to get married, would you be offended?”
And I think about it for a moment and come up with two replies, one more true and one more succinct. I opt for brevity, and say “Not really. Maybe if I knew you personally…” And they asked why, of course, and I say “well, you might be jerks, or he might be totally wrong for you or something.” And they laugh and shake my hand and go on their way presumably to accost the woman sitting on the next bench up the way.
The true answer, though, would have been, “Yes, a part of me would be offended. Most of me would say, good luck, be happy. But part of me truly believes that the entire world should be as miserable and lonely as I am. And that part would be offended that you’re not.”
See, I do have tact. Sometimes.
And out of the corner of my eye I notice a couple of young guys talking to the guy on the next bench. But I’m mostly just watching the sailboats and enjoying the lovely weather and thinking about how much my life sucks.
The next thing I know the aforementioned couple of guys is talking to me. They’re clearly college kids, good looking in a vaguely all-American, if not quite Abercrombie and Fitchy, way, and they’ve got their arms around one another and one of them says, “Excuse me, but if we were to get married, would you be offended?”
And I think about it for a moment and come up with two replies, one more true and one more succinct. I opt for brevity, and say “Not really. Maybe if I knew you personally…” And they asked why, of course, and I say “well, you might be jerks, or he might be totally wrong for you or something.” And they laugh and shake my hand and go on their way presumably to accost the woman sitting on the next bench up the way.
The true answer, though, would have been, “Yes, a part of me would be offended. Most of me would say, good luck, be happy. But part of me truly believes that the entire world should be as miserable and lonely as I am. And that part would be offended that you’re not.”
See, I do have tact. Sometimes.
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