Thread by @trickelbank

So I'm waiting for food tonight and I'm sitting next to a nurse from Cedars who...I mean, I've been around enough military vets to know thousand-yard-stare when I see one. And she looked like she could see straight through to the other side of the galaxy.

I probably shouldn't...

...have asked if she was OK. I probably should have left her alone and let her gaze into thr abyss.

But I didn't. I asked if she was OK.

And she snapped out of it and smiled wanly, and nodded her head, giving me a look of, "Please don't ask me for details."

I didn't. But...

...she I guess had heard me mention BACHELOR IN PARADISE to someone on the phone, and we got to talking about that, and she clowned me pretty hard, and...honestly I get it.

And then she asked what *I* do, and I told her I'm a screenwriter, and she goes...

...(in reference to me absorbing trash reality TV), "You should be ashamed of yourself."

And I laughed so hard I actually aspirated some of my beer, and then I choked, and she got to laughing really hard, and it was...nice. It was really genuinely nice.

She kept asking...

...about what I did, and I kept being vague and deflecting, because honestly? Whatever she does, what I do pales in comparison, and I felt...small talking about it, honestly. It seems to insignificant in the grand scheme, and in this specific context.

And she called me on it!

On the deflecting, and the vagueness. Literally just point-blank asked why I was deflecting and being vague. And she seemed like the kind of person who'd know if I was bullshitting her, so I was honest with her, and told her exactly why.

AND SHE STARTED TO ROLL HER EYES AT ME.

But then it was like she realized she was doing it, and thought about it, and I could the gears turning in her head.

And then she looked at me and said, "I just worked a 36-hour shift. You know what I'm going to be doing in an hour?"

And I said, "Sleeping, I hope."

And she goes, "I'm going to be watching YOU'VE GOT MAIL for the millionth time. Did you write YOU GOT MAIL?"

I did not.

"Well, someone did. And you know what? Whoever wrote that is getting me through tonight and up tomorrow."

We chatted for a few more minutes, and she left.

I know what I do - what we do, as creatives/entertainers - isn't "important" in the grand scheme.

But maybe in this current context, and others, it's invaluable. Sometimes. To help someone get through a night or day or week or phase or a moment that's stretched out WAY too long.

And while I'll never confuse what I do as being "important", and I know there's no comparison to be made between my troubles and a nurse coming off a 36-hour shift during COVID, I think maybe it's good for me to not dismiss creating as Less Than.

Maybe sometimes, in addition to getting to be a Writer, I get to be a Helper, or a Distractor, or a Time Passer or a Shepherd or a Numbing Agent or a Seratonin Wave or a Listener.

Anyway. Been writing professionally for 13 years now, and this was one of my best days on the job.