Stupid Human Tricks

A long time ago in a very safe and beige land called Irvine, I worked in a hotel by an airport with a girl named Melissa.

Melissa was my desk buddy and the most anal retentive person I have ever known. I have NEVER known anyone so...hmmm... precise. But boy could that girl down some tequila! (What happens on a cruise ship STAYS on a cruise ship!) We grew to be good friends who appreciated some levity in our long days at our desks. Sometimes when she would walk out of the office, just to break up the days (and to mess with her), I would move her stapler or raise her chair an inch, shuffle some papers or turn her screen a smidge ... just little things... just to see if she'd notice. She always would, of course. I can still see her head tweaking to the side as she tried to figure out what had happened. As she moved things back exactly into their perfect place, I'd just start giggling. It was funny to see someone wound so tight.

Every week, we had to suffer through meetings run by fresh-out-of-college managers in really cheap suits who spoke a little too confidently about things that they could never really explain in detail... at least not without their handy little admins. In one particular meeting, I randomly looked up at Mel to see her balancing a pencil on her upper lip. She had finally cracked! The managers gave me these annoyed mom-and-dad looks as I stifled my laughter. The teacher's pet was finally letting go and having a little fun. Albeit at my expense, but whatever.

So now, whenever I'm sitting here getting too full of my thoughts and too far into my own head... when I am too concerned about the order of my files or the location of my tape dispenser... those moments that I'm trying to control my environment when my life is starting to slip into a little chaos... I reach for a pencil and pucker. And then I just start laughing at my Melissaness.

And I remember not to take it all so seriously.


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