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It couldn’t have been that easy, of course. If I want something done, and I can’t do it myself, I just have to ask for help. That’s what everyone tells me, but when it comes down to it, where are they? I can’t get them on the phone, and they won’t respond to a faxed plea. I’m stranded on the cliff while the sands trickle through the hourglass. Or egg timer or whatever.
It makes a person feel a bit ineffective, if you know what I mean. It’s not just that nobody responds. It’s not that at all, really. It’s more that nobody feels that they have any reason to respond. I don’t want someone to help me because they think I have clout, whether I have any or not. I want them to help because I matter enough for them to take the trouble to make an effort, even if it isn’t exactly convenient.
Because, you see, that’s what I’d like to think I would do for them. I’m not asking anyone to stop harrowing the fields and help me hunt for a nickel. They have something I need. It would cost them nothing more than a little time and even less effort to give it to me. And yet, here I sit. Still waiting. With the deadline rushing toward me like a train in a tunnel.
It’s dark in here, all by myself. And those lights headed this way don’t seem all that friendly. |
