August 6, 2010
Tuesday in disguise
“We also have this new face cream which neutralizes the free radicals that attack the skin. Let me ask you: what’s your skin regime?”
“My regime? The regime from which the radicals are trying to get free? Are we selling face cream or staging a coup?”
It must be Tuesday, because Fridays just DO NOT start out like this.
They don’t start out with your cell phone waking you up at 6:30 (after getting to bed at 1 am) just before the battery dies, because you still have no power. They definitely don’t start out with a 3.5-minute cold shower, AFTER which you realize that of course your hairdryer isn’t going to work you idiot, so you’ll have to air dry on your way to the metro, except that the air on the way to the metro is soggier than the towel you just used, so good luck with that.
While Fridays very occasionally start with the beeping of a delivery truck backup alarm around 7:30 or so, they haven’t yet followed a nearly sleepless night soundtracked by the supermarket whose proximity normally means MORE convenience, not a migraine doing katas all over your cerebrum to the beat of its backup generators.
In short, if my place still doesn’t have power tonight (according to a kindly neighbor who bought some shelf-stable milk at said supermarket, where the employees had called the power company, it’s “going to be a while”), can I come over and use yours? It won’t be for long – maybe for 10 minutes or so before I fall asleep again.
Seeking John Galt 