As the day wore on, they regaled me with suburban tales about the crazy raccoons that frequent their backyard and their unidentified callers on caller ID. I, in turn, delighted them with my exciting urban tales: my public transportation crush and how the new barista at my local coffee joint had screwed up my non-fat latte. As I spoke, I realized I was both envious and fascinated by their so-called suburban boredom. Strangely enough, I think they were just as fascinated by my urban chaos.
I realized that while single people worry about how they’ll fit into married/couple/family life, married people wonder where they’ll fit in because they think their single friends won’t find their raccoons-in-the-backyard stories enough of a draw. They worry that their kids/mortgages/college funds conversations won’t be a match for our small apartments/three-to-one female to male ratio in the city/overpriced cocktail complaints. In reality, though, we’re each secretly fascinated with the others’ completely different lives.
Interestingly enough, we only talked about the heavy stuff for about ten minutes. The other nine hours were spent covering the same topics we talked about over drinks when we were all single. The nothingness of life that makes you laugh and love your friends: Is Britney a fit mother? Will the Cubs ever win another World Series? Are we stuck with low-rise jeans forever?
The next time I see them, they’ll have a baby. This still causes me to cry, but now it’s more from happiness and excitement than from the fear of losing my friends. Because I learned I’m on the very short call list when their baby begins his/her journey into the world. And they’re on my short call list for when I get free lattes, land permanent health insurance, or go out on more than three dates with anyone.
Maybe that’s what life’s all about. Making sure you’re always on somebody’s short call list and that you have people on yours. Because without the call list, what do we really have in this life? A bunch of rabid raccoons and nobody to tell, that’s what. And we all deserve more than that.
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