On the outside, I try to project an image of having it all together. But underneath that, I'm kind of a disaster. Hence... the name of the site: GlossyVeneer. My eye appointment last week not only gave me an interesting story related to my ocular health, but I also got some blog fodder from one of the other patients.
After the nurse/assistant/lady-in-scrubs filled my eyes with a dilating solution, she sent me back to the waiting room for a while in order to let it work. I had my contacts out at this point, so combining the lack of vision correction with the chemical substance in my eyes, I was pretty blind.
Another patient was brought into the waiting area and she sat right next to me, even though there were about 8 other empty chairs. She pulled her phone out and immediately began texting people. Not texting in a polite, quiet manner like I can do with my iPhone. No… she had to press the number buttons multiple times to get to different characters and every button press resulted in a BEEP.
So she’s going to town with the texting… BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
You get the picture… she does this for about 10 minutes. I wanted to punch her. But being non-confrontational, instead I silently seethe. Just when I was about to reach my breaking point, she shoves the phone in her purse and taps me on the shoulder.
“Hi. I don’t know you.”
“Nope.”
“But I’ve got a problem and I want your advice.”
She then launches into a whole story about how she just broke up with her boyfriend. They’ve been going out for the “past 3 1/2 weeks, er… 3 1/2 years” and he wanted to take a break. While they were going out he was very verbally abusive to her. She said he called her all kinds of names and would get within an inch of her face with his face while screaming these obscenities at her, spraying her with spittle.
So they broke up and now he’s sleeping with someone new. “I mean, it’s only 2 days later and he’s got someone new in his bed. And they’ve been dating pretty steadily now for the past week. And now he’s going to take her to Fanfare. I mean… it’s FANFARE. You a country fan? No? Well, trust me… that’s huge. It’s FANFARE for crying out loud.”
My head is spinning and I almost wish she would go back to texting.
She has rambled on and on about the names he’s called her for a while longer and then she wants to know what I think. Should she stay and wait for the month of their “time apart” to be up or should she just break it off?
I told her that I don’t think it’s right for people to call another human the names she was telling me and that I don’t see how she could respect herself if she stayed in that relationship. I also said that, while I don’t know any of the people involved, that he was probably cheating on her before their separation if he’s already got a new “girlfriend”.
One of the clinic staff then appears and calls BOTH of us back at the same time, “Lori and Jill.”
My new friend says, “You must be Jill since I’m Lori!”
So we walk down the hallway to our respective examination rooms and she’s saying, “So you think I should cut the ties, right? Thank you so much. I’m so glad to meet you.”
I was so relieved to get in the solitude of my own exam room. But the door was open to the hall and then I can hear her start texting again. And then she makes a call and I can hear her side of the conversation.
“Hey, I’m perfectly happy living the bachelorette lifestyle. You can take your new woman and live your life without me. Jill said I would never be able to respect myself if I stayed with you anyway…”
Great, she’s referencing me in this call.
“So… that’s how I feel. We’re done. Call me when you get this, okay? I’m through with this game, I’m going to be a single gal. Call me, okay? Call me. Bye.”
Sigh…
