I'd say I'm a thoughtful person.

July 28, 2014

Describe Yourself

“I’d say I’m a . . . thoughtful person.”

As we learn early from the notes we carry home from our teachers and back to school from our parents, it’s important to portray oneself as thoughtful. 

          We’ve learned.  How often do we say now, “Give me a day or two to think about it,” when we already know what we think — the hole in the bottom of our stomach has told us: “Oh shit.” 

“After much thought and contemplation,” we write, ‘I’ve decided to resign from . . . .”  In fact, we decided long ago, in a single moment when we saw things were not going to go our way; and we decided in the same moment we weren’t going to compromise, so to  . . . with the rest of you (cretins).

          If there has been any thought or contemplation added to that, it has been how to cover over those feelings with justification, then put up a marker to it.

We bury a cat in the woods behind the house; and we cover the carcass with dirt and a small memorial mound of stones.  English ivy soon attaches to the stones then covers them, so we can no longer find the grave site ­— unless tromping around in the area we stumble over it.  And the hole at the bottom of our stomach tells us, “Oh, shit.”

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