So. Who am I: Teesee, a collective of experiences, some good, some bad and some bloody awful. I’m funny (no really, just ask Peter, who'll supply the references, quotes and one liners I tend to exhale on a bi-millisecond basis) and I live to write. Someday I hope to be able to write to live, but until then, you’ll get my ramblings for free. I’m cool like that.
Dear Heart,
Remember to love without limits; your capacity is fathomless. Never be afraid to show someone the depths of your feelings; just ensure you wet their toes first – you don’t want them to drown.
Keep beating.
Keep living.
Keep loving.
Love,
Teesee
You came into my life, unannounced and unexpected,
Yet here you are, standing tall – you’ve left me totally affected.
With every word, with every piece, of information I’ve digested,
I know you more, I’m in too deep; I think I really should be tested.
For my sanity has left me, or perhaps it’s just arrived.
I never knew the difference until you looked into my eyes.
And as my world began to turn; I found you caught me by surprise.
With every passing moment, we come closer yet, to our goodbyes.
You stayed only for a second, I’ll remember you longer still.
I’ll try and count forever, but I don’t think I have the will –
To see that far ahead as I keep on looking back.
Know only this, I miss you; I watch our curtain fade to black.
You tell yourself that you want to be more cultured, that you want to have something to talk about with people other than what you ate for dinner last night. You’re fed up of laughing your way through the cartoon section of the newspaper, laughing because you didn’t really get the joke but felt obliged too anyway because the nosey person next to you was looking over your shoulder. You like stuff to be spelled out for you, so you decide that reading a book would be the perfect solution.
You ask friends and colleagues for book recommendations. You nod emphatically to their suggestions, taking care to remember at least one of the titles they suggest; only that joke you read this morning from the cartoon section suddenly makes sense and you laugh, completely forgetting what your colleague just said. But that’s ok; you remember the gist of it, right?
I finish work just after noon when most people are still tucking into their lunches. By this time, I’ve already served a full day at work. I’m tired because I’ve been running around like a mad woman who’s forgotten her medication (I can say this because my mum’s crazy) putting books away and serving customers; and my feet hurt because I’ve had numerous trolleys/suitcases/cages rolled over them. You’d think they’d eventually become numb to the pain. But they don’t.
I walk to one end of the airport to clock out, then, trek to the other side to retireve my bag and jacket. I battle my way through check in and finally exit the building. My journey is far from over. I then brave the travelator and try not to get annoyed when people just stand there on it. Helpful advice: You go faster when you WALK on the damn thing.
I wait impatiently behind a tourist at the ticket barrier in the tube station, watching as they swipe their PAPER ticket against the Oyster card reader. Because of this, I’ve missed my train. I walk to the end of the platform where it’s quiet. I sit on the bench and then, I put my head in my filthy, dry skinned, broken nailed hands, and I whimper quietly.
Some time ago, I wrote a piece on the different reactions I get from customers after telling them a plastic bag will set them back a whole one penny.
Today I encountered a response that not only took the biscuit; it effectively smashed the entire packet into smithereens.
Let me explain.
The transaction started off as most do: customer plonks a bunch of books down on the counter, I proceed to smile at them, (the customer – not the books) I say hello, perhaps comment on their choice of books and then I ask them if they need a bag.
This can go two ways.
They can either say yes or no. If no, I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. I won’t have to bother with the whole one penny spiel. If yes, then I pray to someone’s God.