Daily writing prompt

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

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My teenage self was traumatized. A childhood of irregular parenting, threats, and molestation will do that to a person. So will bullying at school. I had experienced all, and I became convinced of my unworthiness. It didn’t help that I was overweight, highly intelligent, and hopelessly awkward.

High school was a little better, with a reprieve from the bullying. I didn’t have any close friends, but at least I didn’t have active enemies. And I discovered extracurricular activities, like theatre and choir, and I did well at them. Still, it was a hellacious time for me. High school is filled with popularity contests (I was the polar opposite of popular), first loves (mine was unrequited), and future plans (at least I had that down — I wanted to go to college more than anything).

I survived high school, and then I went to college, where I finally found people like myself (nerds). I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere, but I found places where I fit in. College changed my life.

If I had my teenage self sitting in front of me, I would tell her that things will get better, that high school wasn’t life but a road block to get over. The high school experience isn’t real — going to prom with someone didn’t mean true love, and even true love dissolved in weeks (except for my unrequited crush, who married his high school sweetheart). The popularity will fade and have no meaning in one’s life. There are things that matter more, like finding one’s true self and navigating the world. I would be tempted to give her one glimpse of her future life, but I wouldn’t do so, because I want her future to be a surprise to her. A pleasant surprise.

Daily writing prompt

What bores you?

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Meetings bore me. I think I’m not alone in this; I’m not sure that anyone is enamored of meetings, including the people holding them.

Meetings seem like an inefficient way of giving out information. The joke “Can’t this be done in an email?” applies here. Email can do most of it. My brain outpaces the meeting, and I find myself using the spaces between words to try to escape.

People repeat themselves in meetings. I just sat through a meeting where we spent ten minutes listening to two parties make the same point over and over, in almost the same words. It was like sitting through an avant-garde play, only I would have enjoyed the absurdity of the play.

I am fortunate that my immediate superiors keep their meetings as short as possible, and cover many items by email. They have even been known to cancel meetings if not enough business has accumulated by then. One of my standing committee meetings has a lot of work involved, so it’s not usually boring. I find myself relieved of a lot of meeting tedium, for which I’m thankful.

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite drink?

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It will come as no surprise to my regular readers that my favorite drink is coffee.

Daily writing prompt

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?

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In the US, the right-wing has laid claim to the word “patriotic”. It has become associated with a culture obsessed with guns and taking away others’ rights. I have a knee-jerk reaction to the word now.

But America has had a long history of civil rights, and until this administration has been making steady progress on civil rights. Not fast enough, but in its absence definitely missed. If I am willing to fight for the days of civil rights, does this make me patriotic?

I think so. I think I can call myself a patriot wanting to bring back America’s days of being that shining light on the hill rather than the shitscape it currently is.

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

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This will not be an exciting story. I haven’t broken any major laws accidentally (or on purpose), but I did once leave my vehicle registration for too long, and I was driving on expired stickers. I didn’t get stopped by the cops, so no drama. I discovered the problem some two months after they expired, however, so I could have gotten stopped by the cops at any given time.

I realized I was waiting for a postcard reminding me that my registration was due, and I had never gotten one. This is not an excuse, according to the license bureau.

Fixing it was as simple as going to the license facility and standing in line, all the time hoping that a cop wouldn’t find my car parked out front with an expired sticker. They did not, but I had to pay a fine for waiting too long to get the sticker. I found out that someone had transcribed my license number wrong on a form and that was why I didn’t get a postcard.

This is definitely not one of my more exciting stories.

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite candy?

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My favorite candy is toffee, chocolate covered or not. I like the caramelized sugar and butter flavor and the brittle texture (although I like soft toffee, I prefer the hard kind). I find it hard to resist toffee, and I have to be careful not to eat the whole tin.

I can remember the last time I had toffee. It was a Heath Bar blizzard from Dairy Queen some weeks ago. Heath bars aren’t even the best toffee, but it satisfied my urges. I prefer homemade toffee, but I get that so seldom.

This post is making me hungry for toffee, especially the toffee in the picture above, which looks homemade. There’s no place to get it around here, so I will have to imagine it.

Daily writing prompt

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

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As I get older, I get less stressed about the outside world. Maybe this is a bad thing these days with all the chaos in our government, but I feel like I’ve survived everything that life has thrown at me so far, including some things that should very well have killed me (like getting in the car with an impaired driver).

If I can’t do anything about life throws at me, then there’s nothing to gain by panic. I will survive, or I will not, and if I do not, then I won’t know what happened. It’s a fatalistic stance, I guess. But I think it’s a natural consequence of getting older.