A conversation

He fell in love on a Tuesday. It was not with a girl, per se, but with the image of a girl. I’m certain you understand the distinction. He said something about the way that life is tough to navigate in certain moods or time periods, and she told him that she agreed somewhat, but that he might be mistaken. That it might not be certain months or moods that made life difficult to navigate but all the damn people.

“And late stage capitalism,” he said.

“People are always blaming late stage capitalism. Besides which, maybe we’re in early stage capitalism. How come no one ever considers that?”

“I think it’s the dehumanizing part. If you imply that we’re in late stage capitalism it also implies that capitalism was a problem and now it’s in its death throes. Early stage capitalism is depressing. It’s basically like saying Monday instead of Friday.”

“I think of it as the difference between like a Monday and a Wednesday, because, either way, we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“What about using the term, epoch of capitalism.”

“The word epoch isn’t used frequently enough.”

“I use it frequently, though often incorrectly. I spent a period of time in my life using the word segue and pronouncing it seeg, thinking that it was something entirely different from segue.”

“Was it as embarrassing as it sounds?”

“Yeah, I mean. This is the sort of stuff I don’t usually share with people. This is a sign that what we have here is something special.”

“I wouldn’t have thought of it that way.”

“Are you trying to depress me?”

“A little. Is it working?”

“I can’t be sure. I might already have been depressed before we started talking. It’s hard to tell if this is new depression or not. I’m leaning towards not, but I can’t be sure.”

“Is there a point in this conversation where you start being charming or is this it?”

“That’s about all I had. Besides which, we’re overcoming the epoch—

“I see what you did there.”

“The epoch of a male dominated society, roughly 5,000 years or so. This is your opportunity to deny that fairy tale creation. I should not be forced to be charming just as you shouldn’t be forced to be lovely.”

“So basically equality is just both of us being awful.”

“I’m not sure I understand all the nuances but that’s basically it.”

“Huh.”

“Can I bum a cigarette?”