Word Count: 421<\/p>\n

My friend Thomas won\u2019t leave the house without first winning three games in a row of Solitaire on his laptop. I\u2019ve also heard he won\u2019t even take a shower before, for fear he may drown. He\u2019s a great believer in luck and destiny, which to me, seems in conflict right there.<\/p>\n

A fortuneteller once told me my life would be filled with disasters. She said I had horrible karma and hurried me out of her tent. With one arm on me, the other scattering flakes that fell in a starburst of glittering dust, she guided me out into the carnival night. The next morning, the booths, tents, and rides, people and animals, were all packed up and gone.<\/p>\n

Still, I don\u2019t believe we don\u2019t plan our own fates, have some control over the good and the bad. True, I\u2019ve had a lot of bad stuff happen in my life, but I sort of figure I just make some lousy decisions.<\/p>\n

Like not taking a job in California when it was offered. Like dumping Carl when I was nineteen. Like…well, there were quite a few.<\/p>\n

I have a decent job with the State and a second floor apartment in a building of young up and comers. Thomas lives there too, though I don\u2019t think he fits in with the culture. He too works for the State and makes very good money, but a refuse removal man just isn\u2019t invited to Friday night happy hour anymore. Odd, since everyone has that in common. Even more so than taste in movies, music, or pot.<\/p>\n

Last Friday night I met a new man, a possible lover-in-training. Oh, I\u2019m not really that manipulative but come on, every guy could learn from a gal. He hasn\u2019t called, as he said he would, and Thomas says he probably just lost my number. For Thomas, this means he\u2019s pretty sure the guy won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he took my phone number,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he bought me two drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, so?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I did everything right,\u201d I cried, or was close enough to tears that my voice was getting smaller and higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes two,\u201d he said, \u201cand maybe the timing just wasn\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why am I such a loser?\u201d I was crying now. \u201cI try so very hard to be likable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome here,\u201d Thomas said. I sat down beside him. He closed his laptop and put it aside. He put a warm arm around me. \u201cI just won three games,\u201d he said. He was smiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Word Count: 421 My friend Thomas won\u2019t leave the house without first winning three games in a row of Solitaire on his laptop. I\u2019ve also heard he won\u2019t even take a shower before, for fear he may drown. He\u2019s a great … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mainstream","tag-mainstream"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1617,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/1617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}