Brothers

I was telling stories about my brothers to some coworkers. They didn't believe me when I told them we weren't very close.

Before I got to junior high school age, my older brother repeatedly told me there were a bunch of guys waiting to beat me up when I got there. I was totally freaked out for the longest time. I remember hiding in hallways and running from class to class room.

“And your brother was not going to protect you?” They asked.

“My brother was probably on the top of the list who wanted to beat me up.”

Next story I was laughing so hard when I told them about the year I went to this computer trade show called Comdex, I packaged up all the better swag and gave it to my little brother's for Christmas. i can still see the shocked looks on thier faces as they dumped the crap out of the box!

My coworkers thought I crossed a line with that one. I couldn't argue with that but at the time I wasn't even trying to be a jerk.

One year, one of my brothers was all in a huff and didn't want to sit next to me on the train that circled Disneyland. After a few stops, more people got aboard. My brother finally came over and sat next to me.

“I'd rather sit next to Michael, then some stranger.” he announced.

I agreed with that logic. I'd probably say the same thing.

That pretty much sums up our relationship.

Routines

When I was growing up my dad had a routine that he followed every morning. It was like clockwork. I learned his schedule so well I could tell what time it was depending on the signs from his routine.

One morning I needed to get up early and I waited for him to leave. Prior to this morning, I realized he didn't like when I invaded his private time. So, I waited for him to go to work.

Anyway, this particular morning he came back, running inside from the garage, yelling that some kids had busted out the window of his car. Turns out that day was April 1st. My Mom didn't think it was funny at all.

It's been several years since I've lived under my parents roof. Every now and then, early in the morning, I can hear the neighbors walking around upstairs. My brain tells me it's my dad on his routine.

Out of sight, out of mind

One year a roommate of mine sent out an email to meet up at the Cheesecake Factory. The email was to a Yahoo! group if I remember correctly. We wanted to see who would show. It was quite a surprise this known, directionally impaired lady friend walked through the door.

When I asked her how she got there, I learned she had a car now. When I asked again, she told me she had a GPS gadget too.

On the way out of the restaurant, I asked her if she recalled where she parked. She did not so I offered to help. We walked around a bit until she recognized anything familiar. In the car, the GPS device could not acquire a signal for a few minutes. This was years before I had a smartphone, so I was left with what I knew about the area.

I found it funny a visually impaired person was navigating for a directionally impaired person. We got home, so it worked out.

Every now and then when I went to events, some people would be surprised to see me and offered a ride home. Some times I felt upset and wanted to ask them where they were before I took public transportation or what not to get there.

Several people had offered rides upon request, but I forgot who had offered what and I don't like bugging people all the time.

Anyway, once a friend told me that when I was out of sight, I was out of mind.

Wow, I reeled. That explained what I figured most people thought. And this from a friend?