"Have you ever seen Reality Bites? When it first came out I thought it was the funniest comedy ever. I would watch it and laugh for years. Then I sort of forgot about it, and about 6 years ago remembered it and watched it again because I needed a laugh.
I cried almost the whole movie because it had become my life. I still love the movie though, especially this moment here:
Except I don't smoke, and I'm not really fond of coffee. I think you and I need to find a common vice"
He responded the next day:
"I love that movie! The Ethan Hawke character really strikes a chord with me for various reasons, but I haven't seen it in years. I would like to assume that it stands the test of time. Great scene btw. Hope your work is going well!"
All of her pet peeves about email exchanges suddenly came to the surface. Not addressing all the things in the email. Doing the "conversation ender" of "Hope your ____ is going well" and saying "various reasons" and not listing them. He had a great blog where he wrote fantastic poetry. She knew that he could write beautifully, but he wasn't sharing any of that with her.
He texted later "I start tomorrow at 9am at my new job!!!"
She congratulated him and called him on her lunch break. They talked the entire half hour about the job, what jobs meant anymore, how they just wanted a nice roof over their head, a couple of vacations a year, and how much they had to make in order to get those things. They talked about Reality Bites, and how their vices didn't meet up yet, and it was something they had to work on. She walked almost a mile around her work as they talked. Except for the fact that she severely disliked talking on the phone, it was a good conversation.
When she hung up, she realized that the method of communicating was so different from text to speech. She had reached out to him through both his and her preferred method of contact. He had responded best in his, of course. But she felt like he didn't even really try in hers. Though they were both so similar, she was seeing the hurtful differences. She was getting tired of being the one who gives the most in everything she does.
