Younger (a fragment)
The computer beside his desk whirred dutifully over the whine of the fluorescent lights. Otherwise the office was quiet.
The phone rang.
“Hey it’s Gary. A bunch of us are gonna go grab sushi; wanna come?”
“Sushi?”
“Yeah, fish, rice, seaweed. Good stuff.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks anyway.”
“Alright buddy, I’ll swing by and see you on my way out.”
“You don’t have to,“ he began, but Gary had already hung up.
Three minutes later Gary appeared outside his cube.
“Sure you won’t change your mind?” Gary asked.
“Thanks but no. I’m good here,” he replied, not taking his eyes off his monitor.
“Say, what’s with you lately?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what’s with you?”
He sighed deeply and, for the first time, took his eyes off the monitor to look at Gary.
“Remember when we were little Gary? Remember when you would come over to my house to play?”
“Yeah, sure.” Gary replied.
“Back then, you were the only person I knew who was younger than me.”
“Only by a year.”
“Yeah, but the point is that everyone else in the entire world was older than me.”
“Okay.”
“And do you remember when we started here out of college – when was that? – eight years ago?”
“Eight years in April.”
“Remember how we were the two youngest people in the entire company?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, look around now. How many people are younger than us?”
“How many people are younger than us?”
“Yeah, hell, in the group you’re going to lunch with, how many of them are younger than you?”
“I don’t know five, maybe six.”
“Out of how many?”
“Eight.”
“See?”
“See what?”
“This is what it means to be old. Suddenly everyone goes from being older than you to being younger than you.”
“Dude, you’re only 29.”
“Only one year left ‘till carousel.”
“What?”
“Nevermind. Look your sushi crew’s probably waiting and I’ve got to finish this spreadsheet,” he said and turned back to his monitor.
“Alright man, but cheer up.”
“Sure,” he said, forcing a smile but not turning away from his screen.
“Dude, I’m serious you’ve got—“ Gary’s cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered it. “Hello… yeah, I’m coming,” he turned back, “I gotta go, but we’ll talk about this later.”
“Sure,” he replied, but Gary had already gone.
One Response on “Younger (a fragment)”:
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Betsy H said:
Right there with you. I’m a supervisor now – hiring 22 year olds straight out of college. To them I must seem so old – they ask how long I’ve worked for the company and upon telling them it’s been 9 (?!) years, they gawk. So do I, really.
My palm’s been blinking for over a year – this can’t be sanctuary… can it?
