Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Say what

It's 2 am, and I just got off the phone with a friend from college--a woman I haven't talked to in 5 years. Tonight I discovered I need to find a better way to answer the Hey, what happened to your husband question.

I realize now that the things that just seem like parts of the story to me sound like sordid (her word, not mine) details to people who haven't been around through all of this.

She said, "When I see the girls from undergrad next month, I'll let them know what you've been up to. Minus all the sordid details, of course."

I was thinking, what sordid details? That's nothing. I didn't even tell you about how he...

And I didn't tell her.
But the point is, I've got to find a better way to answer that damn question.

12 comments:

Amanda said...

it's good to see you're alive!!

Terroni said...

it's good to be alive, amanda! hopefully i'll get a chance to post about skydiving later.

MmeBenaut said...

I hate those questions too. There's no easy answer except perhaps "I'll tell you all about it when I see you" and if you don't see her for another 5 years, well by then it will be like water off a duck's back. (Sometimes cliche's just fit).

j-dub said...

When you get your answer, let me know--I'm still honing mine.

Sassy Sundry said...

Hey Lady! That's not an easy question. I'd say just say what you're comfortable with and leave it at that.

Susanlee said...

SKYDIVING? Good thing you didn't ask my permission, you'd totally still be sitting on the sofa. I hate it when people ask me questions and then consider something in my life "sordid." How judgmental!

Terroni said...

I'm not sure she meant to be judgmental. I think she was just a bit shocked. I think that maybe 5 years ago I seemed like the kind of person that this stuff doesn't happen to.

Either way, from now on, when I tell the story, it's going to be very brief...

"Unfortunately, things didn't work out. We aren't in contact, so I don't know what he's doing now. (everyone asks) But, I wish him well."

I'm going to say all that in the Verizon wireless customer service voice. You know, the one that makes it very clear that the speaker is reading from a script, and you're not getting anything helpful out of her so you might as well just cough up $150 for a new phone because your contract is not up for another 542 months and drying out phones that have been dropped in the toilet never really works. That voice.

Anonymous said...

Just catching up after time away. I think you have a golden opportunity to make up a really cool story about the ex. Come to think of it, maybe I'll do that, too.

Maria said...

I think we all need a little bit of the shock in our past. But, it is more fun to invent it than to have to live through it and then explain it, huh?

Skydiving. Wow. Boy howdy. It's med school. When you get breaks, you sort of want to push that envelope a little bit. I say...crash right through it.

Christine G. said...

you killed him and ate his liver with fava beans and a nice bottle of chianti.

what's so hard about that?

i think that's the best answer. you don't have to make the slurpy noise, unless you really REALLY wanna.

Terroni said...

Christine, HOLY SHIT...you make me laugh.

That's it. That's my new answer.

Alice Kildaire said...

You could always simply claim you sold him to the gypsies. It may ward off a lengthy investigation. ;-)