Monday, March 7, 2011

Not Going There Again

Today I was outed at a place I never want anyone I know to see me there. Like the Brazillian Wax place, or Planned Parenthood if you are Mormon, or a psychiatrist appointment or a restaurant with your boyfriend when you have a husband, or Sylvan Learning Center if you've faked reading for years, or Victoria Secret when you run into a colleague -- and he's not married or the cosmetic surgeon when you are thinking of an enhancement but haven't committed yet.

One of those happened to me today and I ended up paying them $30 to talk about how robins save their young in a May snowstorm. It was worth the $30. Anyway, totally outed in a waiting room that you can never escape from and to top it off, I was 30 minutes early so it was extra awkward and I floundered for the last 5 minutes because I ran out of commonality with the person that I used to be intimate with.

The last 5 minutes was a morsel of delight though. The conversation went like this:

Them: "Your daughter is the most cool person I know."
Me: "Yes, she is. Thank you."
Them: "Please tell her she is really cool."
Me: "I will."
Them: "You know what, on second thought, I'll tell her."
Me: "Good."
Them: "You did well. You should be proud of who she turned out to be."
Me: [Pause, because I'm still working through how to accept a compliment.] "Thank you, I'm proud of her. Randy and I did ok. He was a great Dad too." He died 3 years ago and I am so grateful that I told him how great he was with his child.

Yes, thriving and I'm very proud of her.

But still awkward to be recognized... I didn't think that person would want the same "services" that I was getting. It worked out, but I'm changing my appointment if I ever go back so we don't run into each other again. But it was worth the 30 minute humiliation to hear that I have a great kid.

1 comment:

Kristin Schelin said...

I am a pretty great kid! :) Sorry you got outed. Glad you got to see them though, they are pretty remarkable people as well.

By the way...it's been 4 years since Dad died.