Usually, it’s a really interesting day, at best. Scopes go up, and I get a ton of mail. I received some of the nicest, sweetest, kindest notes in yesterday’s mailbag. Then, I got exactly one that was really intended to be hurtful.
I’d post the email address and the note, but I thought carefully about what I was doing. The note, in brief capital letters, suggested that I was always wrong.
Work with me here, put on the thinking cap. If the scopes don’t work, you’re not being forced to read them, if you don’t like them, and they irritate the crap out of you, then why bother to access them? Why click through in the first place? It’s not like this material is being force-fed, right?
I was chatting with a distant friend on the phone when the mail hit, and I looked at it, and since I was trying to guess the next baby’s gender, I really wasn’t too worried about the e-mail. Upset me a little, like it always does, but not so much that I worried too much about it.
The considerations I went through, and I had to think about this, but when someone fires off a note like that, it’s usually some person who’s dealing with Saturn issues. Or Pluto. Or maybe it’s Leo [Jupiter> and that gets them down.
Me?
Granted, I pour a lot of work into the scopes, and frankly, it’s not always rewarding, but I got a ton of nice mail Thursday morning. Put me in a great mood. I spent half an hour with a tenant, hanging around outside under a century old Live Oak. Ostensibly, we were discussing a lease. Practically, we were discussing the relative merits of living with a girlfriend. I was going to get a new lease out of him, either way, whether he stays or moves to a new apartment. Turned into a jocular, lively conversation.
I replied to the person [unknown sign, unknown gender> with a simple “thanks for writing in” response. I’ll admit, I was motivated, in part, by desire for revenge. Simple, human desire to strike back. Plus, if the email address was operational, I could post it…. but never mind that now.
My aim missed. In a few, short, kind words, I thanked them for taking the time to write in. Some days, the irony is lost on the ironic generation.
At the same time, I got another e-mail. Really made my night:
> I read your horoscopes for pure literary enjoyment…It is absolutely
> wonderful to read such interesting and beautifully written little stories
> every week…
Time to go Midland, the last shuttle for West Texas tonight.