Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Quarantining the Past

I was just watching Pavement play (best under-rated, retired band ever) on Colbert and I was reminded of one of my favorite lyrics--"And You Can Never Quarantine The Past".

How great would it be to quarantine the past? Let me rephrase, quarantine the shitty stuff from the past.

The past has been rearing its ugly head for me. I blogged a little about this, but I did not give details. This time I'm giving details. John got a DUI and was fired from his job. It happened a couple of months ago. I heard it from one person. She asked me not to tell. I respected that. It started as a secret. Apparently, it is not a secret anymore. I now get 2-3 calls per week from old work friends saying, "did you hear about John...?" Apparently he was driving back from a trip with his boys in the car. He got the DUI and thought he had handled it with an attorney. He drove with a suspended license for about a year. He worked for Johnson and Johnson. They do yearly DMV checks. JNJ don't play. He was fired immediately.

I am so grossed out. First, drunk driving is one of my MAJOR hot buttons. And his boys were in the car? Really? Really? Risk your own life, but risk your kids' lives? WTF?

Why do I care? Rational Penelope says, "he is no longer in my life and it doesn't matter". Irrational Penelope says, "OMG, what is wrong with you, why didn't you see the RMFFs™? Are you stupid?"

I didn't dance when I heard it. I will admit the sides of my mouth did curve upward. I do believe what goes around comes around. It doesn't always happen as fast as I would like, but it happens. I think about Pao. Has John lost his appeal now that he has lost his job and his beloved camp is up for sale? He couldn't afford to buy a car. He is borrowing a friend's car. He got a job at the same hospital where Pao works. One of my guy friends said he envisions John and Pao meeting in the cafeteria for lunch. He said he can see John with the retractable name badge at the cashier register as he gets his employee discount. Kinda mean. But funny.

My time with John is something I would like to put in a room and seal the door. That is some shit I would like to quarantine.  

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