Essay: We Knew Each Other... Once
I wrote about him about three years ago. About how, on a whim, plugged his name into Google, and ta da! there he was... and all 13,600 entries that contained his either his first, last or complete name.
Last night, I, again on a whim (or a wild hair up my ass, I'm not sure which), looked up his name on Google, and clicked on Images, and lo and behold, there was a somewhat recent picture of him.
He looked like the same guy I knew, and last saw, in the late 90's, but now is somewhat famous in RPG ("role playing games" for the uninitiated or uninterested) and fantasy art circles. He's a very talented artist (with a college degree to go with it), and he's apparently put it to good use.
So, I'm quite glad about that. It's nice to know that people you knew once upon a time are successful, happy, or whatever. The last time I saw him, he was going through a divorce, and when I contacted him by email three years ago, his mother had passed away not long before.
How did I know this guy to begin with? That story starts out about 15, 16 years ago in Chesapeake, Virginia, at the beginning of my tenure with the callcenter that shall remain nameless.
We were never really friends, per se; more like acquaintances-slash-co workers. We knew each other's names, and we'd talk on occasion in the break room. Sometimes when my unreliable husband would "forget" to pick me up at one in the morning, this man would take me home. I always tried to pay for gas.
Couldn't do that these days, but in the nineties, gas was about a buck a gallon, and not the $2.50 it's approaching now.
He's in a whole different world, out there in Seattle, or wherever he ended up. I hope he's happy. He was a nice man when I knew him, and for all I know, he still is.
I'm in a different world now, too. You can't change who you are, as someone I know now keeps telling me. The nameless call center in Virginia will always be the crossroads in two very different lives gone in completely different directions.
Yes... I knew him. Once upon a time.
And that's all from where I sit.
--MorelaterZ--
Last night, I, again on a whim (or a wild hair up my ass, I'm not sure which), looked up his name on Google, and clicked on Images, and lo and behold, there was a somewhat recent picture of him.
He looked like the same guy I knew, and last saw, in the late 90's, but now is somewhat famous in RPG ("role playing games" for the uninitiated or uninterested) and fantasy art circles. He's a very talented artist (with a college degree to go with it), and he's apparently put it to good use.
So, I'm quite glad about that. It's nice to know that people you knew once upon a time are successful, happy, or whatever. The last time I saw him, he was going through a divorce, and when I contacted him by email three years ago, his mother had passed away not long before.
How did I know this guy to begin with? That story starts out about 15, 16 years ago in Chesapeake, Virginia, at the beginning of my tenure with the callcenter that shall remain nameless.
We were never really friends, per se; more like acquaintances-slash-co workers. We knew each other's names, and we'd talk on occasion in the break room. Sometimes when my unreliable husband would "forget" to pick me up at one in the morning, this man would take me home. I always tried to pay for gas.
Couldn't do that these days, but in the nineties, gas was about a buck a gallon, and not the $2.50 it's approaching now.
He's in a whole different world, out there in Seattle, or wherever he ended up. I hope he's happy. He was a nice man when I knew him, and for all I know, he still is.
I'm in a different world now, too. You can't change who you are, as someone I know now keeps telling me. The nameless call center in Virginia will always be the crossroads in two very different lives gone in completely different directions.
Yes... I knew him. Once upon a time.
And that's all from where I sit.
--MorelaterZ--
My name is Stef, and I approve this post. Posted @ 12:30 AM
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