Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A bit of my new job

Today, while sitting in the waiting room at the mental health clinic, my curious looking and smelling companion and I watched an even more curious man walk in the door. Todd noted quietly (which was an uncommon tone for Todd in waiting rooms) that he was glad that man did not live above him. The man was wearing large, clomping unzipped boots. I laughed at Todd’s dryness as he grinned with a bit of uncertainty my way. He is still learning me. Even upon knowing all he needs to know, he will still never be sure of me as his mental illness makes him very suspicious and paranoid. His meds make him forgetful which doesn’t help either. I am still learning him as well. He is a bit unnerving in his fidgety-ness. He stares and asks pointed questions, like an inquisitor trying to catch me in my “lies”. Todd has an ‘80’s rock band mullet and is balding on top. He speaks with a slight east coast accent and has poor hygiene. Living in a cold upstairs apartment above an abandoned storefront in Smallville Iowa, he rolls his own cigarettes. Todd despises judgmental attitudes and “quotes” the bible to prove his viewpoints. While driving home from a dentist appointment yesterday, Todd was emphatically declaring between mouthfuls of donuts and trail mix (he waited 30 minutes exactly after the fluoride treatment, to his credit) that Christians, if they are good Christians, should never judge others. I agreed with him quietly and he turned to me to ask if I was a Christian. I told him I was. He sat quietly for the rest of the ride home munching on a candy bar. While dropping him off at his apartment, saying our good bye’s, he turned to me before shutting the car door, “God bless you, Lori.”