188/365 BASIC after mass

After mass I turned to Sophia and told her she could go downstairs for a donut. And then found myself pulled into a conversation with Missy on my way to join her. I didn't know what my in-laws had planned and I thought they could figure that out and let me know. Missy has a way of making me engage her, even though every conversation takes effort.

It always has. If she wasn't a current parishioner I would have more things to say, funny insane things that Jessica and her sister have shared with me. But funny things about former parishioners can be amusing and kind of like a car wreck, but current parishioners fall into a different category. I don't want to stir our tidy little anthill. But just to say that Missy takes some overly polite handling.

We discussed books. I am shamefully not well-read in the areas of religion, politics, spirituality, and so forth these days. I have some Benedictine books on my list, and a ton of juvenile fiction of course, but I'm not reading, say, the most current biography of this or that political leader from the last century. I don't know much about the history of liberation theology or people closing down torture rooms in Myanmar. Or whatever (I'm just making this up). So I often find myself caught in a conversation with Missy that begins, "What are you reading?"

She is never very impressed with what I'm reading. She is one of the people in my life who fit into the "disappointed with Bridgett" category. Lots of people make assumptions about who I am based on a couple of encounters. It seems that my Jill of All Trades status confuses them. Perhaps I don't portray myself well. I tend to use camouflage to hide my secret identity. But I think some folks assume that because I share, say, their intense hatred of winter squash, or their love of magical realism, or a casual interest in matrix design, that I am just like them. Or that I would also share 99% of their other interests, hobbies, passions, and loves. Missy is one of these folks. She doesn't get me, and we don't see each other often so she doesn't have much of a chance to get me. We don't see each other often because she drives me crazy. And this becomes a cycle, like an old BASIC program:

10 INPUT "What are you reading these days?", R$
20 PRINT "I see."
30 PRINT "I don't know", R$
40 PRINT "I am reading the newest biography of liberation theologians who shut down torture rooms in Myanmar."
50 PRINT "Goodbye. I wish we could talk more."
60 GOTO 10

She recommended three books. She even spelled the last name of one of the authors. The author had a common noun as a last name. I told her those sounded like a plate full for the summer. She smiled, blinking at me. And then it was over.