Friday, September 17, 2010

Asked and Answered

To hear Roc tell it, police officers are a bunch of catty women, be they women or men. They love to gossip. Perhaps it's the feeling of belonging to a clique; maybe it's all part of the bonding process.
So when I ushered him off with instructions to invite Vic (or die) to Thanksgiving, he went about doing it sometime that week. He said the conversation was short and sweet and went a little something like this:
"Hey, Vic. Not sure what you're doing for Thanksgiving, but my wife wanted me to invite you over to..."
"Yes."
"...Over for dinner?"
"Yes."
"Yes, you'll come."
"Yes. Oh, and tell wife thanks to you."
He said he was surprised about how quickly he accepted. I wasn't. I couldn't imagine how lonely he must feel.
But the strange part of the invite was as follows: as the day wore on, Roc kept getting approached by different people in his Company block.
"Is it true that you invited Vic over for Thanksgiving, man?"
"Dude, why did you ask the Russian over for Turkey Day?"
"Roc, why are you hanging with Vic, man? He's one strange dude." They shook their heads and had their say, but by the end of the day, Roc had had it. By the time the last person asked him, he shot back: "Well, if you were all alone in a country not your own, would you want me to invite you?! Don't you worry about my invite."
He came home and told me the whole story, and a part of me couldn't believe it. A part of me tried to be fair and remind him, "They're a bunch of kids. Don't forget, they're all so much younger than you. They're scared and they want to belong. Whether you realize it or not, you just set an example for them. You did the right thing. Let it go."
And so I prepped and prepared; I mixed and measured, and the next thing I knew, the Holiday was upon us. I got up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade right after I threw the bird in the oven. Ah, the smells of home, and Autumn, and Thanksgiving, and tradition. I was ready to meet Vic and ready to celebrate. For one whole day, I had my husband by my side. The NYPD Academy was off; the business was closed, and I was thankful.

1 comment:

  1. I started the job when I was 22, so I don't know how it is in any other profession really, but he's right on about cops loving to dish the scoop like a bunch of girlie tweens at a slumber party.

    __________

    "And so I prepped and prepared; I mixed and measured, and the next thing I knew, the Holiday was upon us." Great line.

    ReplyDelete

 
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