Everything I am noticing lately is below the waist
Did you know there is a whole world of people out there who will talk to you if you have a dog? Not just people who have their own dogs, although that happens a lot, but people who are just interested in having a little chit-chat about your little guy?
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Things I said to the dog this morning on the walk:
“You need to focus.”
“Enough of this foolishness.”
“It doesn’t get any better than this, dog.”
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I was supposed to see my ex-boyfriend for the first time in two years a few weeks ago. I was the one who wanted to see him. He had been ignoring my requests to hang out for a while. Finally, he agreed. He suggested we meet in the park on a Sunday morning and take the dog for a walk.
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Men like dogs, I have discovered. Men smile this special smile for dogs, and it is maybe comparable to the special smile a lot of women have for babies. What I just said was: dogs are like babies for men.
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The park seemed like neutral territory. It was somewhere we had never been together. We had no shared experiences there. There would be no triggers.
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I have no memory for men lately. I meet a man and I am very enthusiastic for approximately 24-48 hours, and then it is two weeks later and one of my friends will say, “Whatever happened to that guy?” And I will not remember who she is talking about. Can you lose a specific thread of memory? Is it like that time I couldn’t remember any algebraic equations ever? Are men my new math?
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When I woke up that morning there was an email from him sent at 5 AM. It said that he had stayed out late the night before. Could we reschedule our meeting till later that day? I told him it would probably be too hot for the dog later. I offered him a few other options. He never replied.
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Do you want to know how to ruin a perfectly good conversation about your dog with a man? Tell him your dog is getting fixed in a few days. Watch him wince. The conversation ends soon after.
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He didn’t want to see me in the first place. He doesn’t really want to be my friend. He is allowed to feel that way. Sometimes you don’t get to know people forever. Sometimes you just need to forget them. I need to accept that. I am pretty sure I have.
