« I... think... I... can... I... think... I.... | Main | Ace, ace, baby »
June 11, 2003
Are you gonna finish that?
There are lots of reasons to love the Turkish inter-city bus companies. Not only can they take you 500 miles for $12, they sprinkle you with lemon cologne every hour and serve refreshments. There's nothing that says "carefree, non-litigious society" like a piping-hot cup o' nescafe on a back country road.
The minute Girl-E boarded the Metro bus on Saturday afternoon for a weekend getaway, she started rapidly glancing around for the cardboard box where they keep the chocolate hazelnut cupcakes. Her eyes were fixed like lasers on the little attendant in the bow tie, watching his every move as he loaded up the tea tray, filled water cups and distributed moist towelettes. Finally, just as she was dozing, she heard the familiar rip of the cardboard, and she sat bolt upright, hands poised to tear open the plastic choco-hazelnut wrapper. She was not disappointed.
Thirty minutes later, blowing on her scalding instant coffee and wondering how much longer she'd have to wait for dinner, she looked across the aisle at her two friends, who were deeply engaged in travel books about hiking in Mongolia. Then she almost passed out from shock-- there, on their fold-down trays, were their two choco-hazelnut cupcakes untouched and snug in their wrappers. There are people like that? People who can let free cupcakes sit right there in front of their faces and not even think about them? How does one get to be like that, and what on the green earth does it feel like? She was slightly calmed when The Dude, cupcake long gone, agreed that he couldn't possibly relate to that kind of indifference to snack food. But still, it occurred to Girl-E that perhaps this is not unrelated to the fact that these particular friends are preoccupied with plans to hike in Mongolia in July, and she is preoccupied with plans to visit every Finagle A Bagel franchise in Boston by the end of July.
To Girl-E, indifference to food is something like, say, indifference to finding a date for prom. Life would be much easier if she didn't give a whit about it, but to not obsess over it is completely impossible. And, once fulfilled, the goal is as sweet as anticipated and more. She can't help but feel that life for people who ignore their cupcakes must be just a little less complete, even if they don't know it. The closest she came to empathy was two weeks ago when she had the food poisoning, but all that did was limit her desire for meals to one a day and significantly shorten the list of things she was willing to eat, which did still include pizza and cheeseburgers.
Lucky for her, she has developed a willingness to burn off some of that yummy goodness with occasional physical activity. She even has something bordering on positive anticipation for things like tennis and step aerobics. She's found a good class in Istanbul, but she can't wait to get back to Boston to her own gym. You should go there, their cafe makes the best bran muffins.
p.s. pistachios rock.
Posted by The Twins at June 11, 2003 12:24 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/40