At the behest of my new acquaintance-of-multiple-sexualities Scott, I will take his (along with that of my former writing instructors) advice of just getting home and writing, no matter how drunk/tired/not-into-it I am.
Today, while making my usual run to the Altgeld Post Office, I found a random customer envelope in the outgoing mail slot. It was only after I left the store with it that I realized that it did not have proper postage on it. Just a couple of days ago, a stamp cost 39 cents. Now, it is 41 cents, as per the usual two cent increase caused by increasing gas prices (although postage will probably never go
down according to gas prices).
Yeah, you're right. This is pretty boring.
But anyway, I dropped off the things I had with proper postage (as per the upgrade on my computer shipping assistant software) and returned to the store to scrounge 2 cents out of the bottom of my purse for a two cent stamp.
By the time I got back, there was a line (as per usual). I don't mind since either way, I'm on the clock and getting paid, whether it is for being productive back at the store, packing things or shelving things, or just standing in line daydreaming about all the other things I'd rather be doing than working at the bookstore.
The person in front of me noticed my envelope and asked me if I needed a new two cent stamp, to which I replied that I did. She gave me the stamp, but when I offered her the two cents she much deserved (and not in the usual annoyingly opinionated way I usually give my two cents either...mind the pun), she politely declined and gave me one of the best lines I've ever heard:
"Besides, I'd probably just spend it on candy and hookers."
The brilliance of it is in its simplicity. It fulfills two of our most human desires: to eat (even if it's something of little nutritional value) and to procreate (or just go through the amusing acrobatic motions of it, which is much more fun than the end result of procreation...especially if you have to pay for the brat's college education).
I wish I caught the woman's name so I could credit her in my first published novel or something (along with Anida Esguerra, Kristina Wong, and Kelly Tsai: three women who taught me to be both fierce
and funny...and you can quote me on that too), because I definitely plan on using that line in something.
But yeah, as it turns out, I did not need the extra two cents afterward...However, if I did not return to the store to get it, I would not have come across the kind and witty soul at all.
Oh, I'd almost call this a
karass of Vonnegutian proportions! Or perhaps it's a mere
granfalloon. Either way, I felt that this brief connection deserved an entry (even more so than the random stranger I met while smoking out in front of the alma mater when I changed my mind about going out last week, only to end up running into him again after my roommate got me to go out again that same night....although he does deserve at least a brief mention. Thanks, Dan.).
On another note, I randomly went out to hang out with Ben (who got so drunk that I actually worried about him...I don't even worry about myself most of the time, so I think that might say something) and his friends tonight after receiving a text message from Ben simply reading "Murph's?." Granted, I should be looking for an apartment/job for next year, but I figured I have tomorrow off and can do that then (along with finally cleaning my damn room). I ran into Ped from my writing with video class (who I still list in my top five coolest people I know) and met a bunch of other Illini Media people, one of whom suggested I just start writing again and filter out the good ideas that way instead of just waiting for that one good idea.
So maybe I'm not doomed to become a failed creative writing major after all.
Nonetheless, half of my mind is already in Portland.
