The Look

Ever talk to a co-worker and reach the point where your story either a) enters the realm of the inappropriate, b) bores them or c) loses its point? How can you tell? Simple: there's The Look. It's the same look for all three, so you never know which it is. Doesn't matter, your story suffers anyway and you're forced to look away chagrined, vowing never to tell the story again or rush on, trying to get the thing over with. Either way, you'll probably never speak to the co-worker again. As the storyteller, this sucks, but imagine what must be running through the mind of the listener? I don't think The Look is even voluntary, it can't be helped.

As an avid listener, once I realize I've given The Look, I pull an Emeriletta (kick it up a notch) and add a sing-song, "Awkward," drawing the storyteller into a false sense of ease. It sounds like a joke so they think it's all right that they've robbed me of 3 minutes of life I'll never get back. It also leads them to believe they can tell the story (and others) to me again. What they fail to realize is that I truly mean what I say. What they laugh and smile at is my complete and total honesty. Allow me to translate: "Awkward" means "the situation is awkward and I'd appreciate it if you'd go back to Accounting/Logistics/Sales and leave me alone, never to tell another story again."

That being said, this morning, I was the recipient of The Look. And, unlike most storytellers, I know why. Inapproporiate, inappropriate. I go day to day amazed at some of the things I think up in my fantastical brain, so imagine an outsider.

So the story goes as so: I went to a free concert in Centennial Olympic Park (the place they built for the torch run of the Olympics in '96--Atlanta rebuilt EVERYTHING for the '96 Olympics) and I was just SO aggravated by the heat I told my cousin The Goddess to "Shut up cuz it's hotter than Satan's bedroom out here!!"

(This is the point where The Look is received)

I looked away chagrined, gave a sing-song "Awkward" and went back to working on the directory...Good thing I left out the "on 2-dollar hooker night" part. I'll miss talking to Ms. Renekia.

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