A Small Vignette from Life

Scene: TS sitting at work slaving in front of computer mining data from the data warehouse. Her phone rings. She picks it up noting her home phone number on the caller ID display.

TS: [TS's Employer]Finance Department. This is TS.
N: Hi Mom. It’s N.
TS: Hi N. How are you?
N: Good. You remember those goggles you bought me at Target a while back? Dad can’t find them. He put them away someplace and can’t remember where.
TS: I’m sorry to hear that.
N: Do you know where they are?
TS: No honey, I’m sorry I don’t where he put them.
N: Do you want to talk to Dad?
TS: Do you want me to?
N: (muffled) Dad! Mom wants to talk to you.

TS waits a few seconds while noises of the phone being clanked around annoys entertains her.

W: Hello?
TS: I just want to tell you the conversation N and I just had so he doesn’t relate it to you differently.

TS shares the above exchange with W.

W: I found a pair of goggles, but he isn’t happy with them.
TS: Well tough shit then. He’ll get over it.
W: Yeah (not sounding convinced)
TS: Let me talk to your son.
W: (muffled) N! Mom wants to talk to you.
N: Yeah Mom?
TS: Dad says he found goggles.
N: Yeah but they aren’t the right ones. These have to be so tight to keep the water out that it makes my head hurt.
TS: I swam as a kid with no goggles at all.
N: Did you get used to it?
TS: Yeah
N: Well I don’t.
TS: (said in a concerned tone) Then maybe you shouldn’t go swimming today. Would you like me to ask Dad to pick you up from day camp before they swim this afternoon?
N: (mumbles something)
TS: What?
N: Bye Mom.
TS: Bye N.

Perhaps that exchange didn’t go the way N wanted, but I thought it went rather well myself.