She walked into the bar in Wayne, PA, knowing she was the first of her friends to arrive, yet scanning the front looking for them. She navigated through the crowd to the back startled by their WASPyness. It had been some time since she had gone out in the deep suburbs and she wasn't used to the whiteness, the homogeneity of the upper middle class crowd. Overwhelmed, she walked back to the front, texting her girlfriend as she went. "Where the funk are you?" The phone had chosen a more polite adjective than the one she intended.
"Robin,"she heard her name. She looked up relieved when she saw her old friend from high school, Stu Dwyer sitting with a group at a Table up front. She recognized John Goodman, but not the rest of the group.
"Hey Stu, what are you doing out here?" She knew he lived in Philadelphia, he was out of context in the Upper Main Line.
"Halfway point, did you know Harley Shames in High School? He pointed to a curly haired man with an expensive looking cashmere v-neck and updated John Lennon glasses.
"No, but remember I switched to friends school in 10th grade."
"Oh yeah, Harely didn't go to middle school with us,"Stu said.
"I went to Welsh Valley, but my parent's made me go to LM instead of Harriton where all my friends were," Harley piped in.
"Ah, you lived in the Walk Zone," Robin smiled.
"Yeah, I lived on Gypsy and my parent's made me walk to LM. All my friends went to Harriton, it sucked having to start over in 9th grade. How'd you know about the walk zone?"
"I live a few blocks from Gypsy, on Broad Acres, my kids go to Penn Valley. LM is redistricting because of the new High Schools," she explained leaning over Stu towards Harley.
The Lower Merion school District, one of the best in the country was currently undergoing a heated re-districting. The district was re-building its two high schools, tearing them to the ground and starting fresh to the tune of 700 million dollars. Historically, Harriton had a smaller student body being in the less populated part of the district, but the new plan called for an equal number of student at each school. The problem being with bulk of the population lived near Lower Merion High School, most parents wanted their kids to attend LM. They didn't wanted to drive the extra 15 minutes out to Harriton HS in Bryn Mawr, with its lack of diversity and wealthier families. While most of the district was upper middle class, the group closest to City Line Avenue felt they were more liberal, more diverse, working to make ends meet, somehow less elitist, but actually more elitist in their reverse discrimination of their wealthier neighbors to the west.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
New Year
January 6th. I re-read my posts and realize I am still stuck. Half an year later and not too much progress. Time to dive in and take a risk.
Dialogue
"You know you have a sociological disorder," he said leaning towards her. They had just met through mutual friends and had only spoken for a few minutes.
"What do you mean?" She was annoyed.
He had gotten under her skin. In the few minutes they had been speaking he had offended her friend who lived in LA when he said he moved back to the Philadelphia area because LA was a cultural wasteland. He had offended her when he said he moved to Chester Springs instead of the Main Line where they had both grown up, because he didn't want to raise his kids there. She told him he was obnoxious after he said that, explaining that she had just told him she was raising her kids in Penn Valley. He agreed it was insulting, yet now he was telling her she had a disorder. Who was this guy and why did she care what he thought.
"Do you mean I'm crazy? That I know, but aren't' we all crazy in our way?" She added.
"No, I mean you have a sociological disorder," he said.
"Well, what is it?"
"I don't know if I can go into it now, it would take some time and you might not want to hear it," He smiled.
She turned to their mutual friend Stu, "He's kind of an asshole, huh?"
Stu laughed, "Yeah, don't mind him, he's always like this. He's the antagonizer of the group."
The night went on and she ignored him chatting with Stu about New Years Eve, which was a few nights past. Stu's girlfriend of 10 years had recently dumped him because she wanted to explore her attraction to women. He was getting over the heartbreak but his sadness was palpable.
"I stayed home on New Years," he said.
"Oh yeah?" she said.
" I rented some movies, got champagne and caviar and just hung out," he continued.
She was struck by the loneliness in him. As a wife and mother of young kids she longed to be alone, but only in spurts, not as a norm. Although she knew loneliness had nothing to do with being alone. Stu continued, describing a movie where the main character had a keen sense of smell and became a perfumer. He turned to murder when he tried to capture the scent of a woman. It couldn't be reproduced.
"Are you happy in your marriage?" Stu asked.
"Hmm, right now I am. A few years ago, not so much. It ebbs and flows. I love my husband, I am glad to be married to him, glad we are raising a family together, but there's still conflict and times I want to kill him, times I hate him. But on the whole I'd say I'm content. I mean, life isn't happiness all the time, we have our day to day existence with work and commitments and there are moments of happiness but they don't last. My marriage is consistent with that. I think people have inflated expectations about marriage, which is why so many fail."
"I agree," Stu said, "people expect the romance to last and it can't, not as intensely anyway. And when it doesn't we give up. We're lazy. It's easier to give up."
"Like getting fat, it's easier to eat, the self discipline is what's missing. We're a bunch of spoiled Americans," She rolled her eyes and shrugged in a what can you do manner.
"All my married friends are unhappy, I wonder if its even worth it, marriage that is,"Stu sipped his Scotch, shook his head.
"But that's my point. We have this unrealistic expectation about happiness. Life is hard, happiness is fleeting. Marriage just magnifies that. People think their partner will meet all their needs. One person can't meet all your needs. We have to meet our own needs."She said, clearly this was something she'd been struggling with.
"So you think we're all spoiled," He grinned.
"Instant gratification baby," She winked took a swig of her beer.
***************************************************
section - maybe in beginning, maybe middle, to be continued.....
Dialogue
"You know you have a sociological disorder," he said leaning towards her. They had just met through mutual friends and had only spoken for a few minutes.
"What do you mean?" She was annoyed.
He had gotten under her skin. In the few minutes they had been speaking he had offended her friend who lived in LA when he said he moved back to the Philadelphia area because LA was a cultural wasteland. He had offended her when he said he moved to Chester Springs instead of the Main Line where they had both grown up, because he didn't want to raise his kids there. She told him he was obnoxious after he said that, explaining that she had just told him she was raising her kids in Penn Valley. He agreed it was insulting, yet now he was telling her she had a disorder. Who was this guy and why did she care what he thought.
"Do you mean I'm crazy? That I know, but aren't' we all crazy in our way?" She added.
"No, I mean you have a sociological disorder," he said.
"Well, what is it?"
"I don't know if I can go into it now, it would take some time and you might not want to hear it," He smiled.
She turned to their mutual friend Stu, "He's kind of an asshole, huh?"
Stu laughed, "Yeah, don't mind him, he's always like this. He's the antagonizer of the group."
The night went on and she ignored him chatting with Stu about New Years Eve, which was a few nights past. Stu's girlfriend of 10 years had recently dumped him because she wanted to explore her attraction to women. He was getting over the heartbreak but his sadness was palpable.
"I stayed home on New Years," he said.
"Oh yeah?" she said.
" I rented some movies, got champagne and caviar and just hung out," he continued.
She was struck by the loneliness in him. As a wife and mother of young kids she longed to be alone, but only in spurts, not as a norm. Although she knew loneliness had nothing to do with being alone. Stu continued, describing a movie where the main character had a keen sense of smell and became a perfumer. He turned to murder when he tried to capture the scent of a woman. It couldn't be reproduced.
"Are you happy in your marriage?" Stu asked.
"Hmm, right now I am. A few years ago, not so much. It ebbs and flows. I love my husband, I am glad to be married to him, glad we are raising a family together, but there's still conflict and times I want to kill him, times I hate him. But on the whole I'd say I'm content. I mean, life isn't happiness all the time, we have our day to day existence with work and commitments and there are moments of happiness but they don't last. My marriage is consistent with that. I think people have inflated expectations about marriage, which is why so many fail."
"I agree," Stu said, "people expect the romance to last and it can't, not as intensely anyway. And when it doesn't we give up. We're lazy. It's easier to give up."
"Like getting fat, it's easier to eat, the self discipline is what's missing. We're a bunch of spoiled Americans," She rolled her eyes and shrugged in a what can you do manner.
"All my married friends are unhappy, I wonder if its even worth it, marriage that is,"Stu sipped his Scotch, shook his head.
"But that's my point. We have this unrealistic expectation about happiness. Life is hard, happiness is fleeting. Marriage just magnifies that. People think their partner will meet all their needs. One person can't meet all your needs. We have to meet our own needs."She said, clearly this was something she'd been struggling with.
"So you think we're all spoiled," He grinned.
"Instant gratification baby," She winked took a swig of her beer.
***************************************************
section - maybe in beginning, maybe middle, to be continued.....
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