My neighbor is consumed with worry.
I thank him for my child's birthday gift; it's a small basketball set that gets affixed to one wall of the bathtub. A smash hit.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," says my neighbor. "I hope it's not occupying too much real estate. I hope it's not too much of a disruption."
This seems like an insane response--so I try to arrange my face into a smile, and the subject just changes on its own.
"I had guests over, yesterday, for the first time in two years," says my neighbor. "It was nice, but the smoke from the grill has clogged one of my tear ducts...."
He goes on. "I was supposed to be in New York today, but with the tear duct, and with my son awake from 3 to 5 am, I had to change my plans...."
Sometimes, I want to quote Aunt Eller, from the musical OKLAHOMA! .... "Lots of things happen to folks! Sickness or being poor and hungry...being old and a-feared to die...That's the way it is, cradle to grave, and YOU CAN STAND IT. There's just one way: You gotta be hardy. You gotta be. You can't deserve the sweet and tender in life unless'n' yer tough!"
Maybe I'll save those thoughts for another day.
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