Sparky Saves the Day

First, we'll start with my news. I finally got ahold of Betty in HR, and I have an appointment to go do paperwork and such on Wednesday at 1:30, and then I start work on Thursday. It's a little later than originally planned, but I feel a whole lot better having these dates set than I did when everything was still in limbo. I still have a couple of days left on my mini-vacation, which I intend to enjoy to the fullest. I'm sure I'll be a tad nervous on Wednesday night.

Jen started today on 2nd shift. Yesterday she was nervous and freaking out, called me twice, and I had to talk her down both times. I was sticking with the Funari Principle, which meant I was hanging back and waiting for her to come to me. And once again it worked. It's amazing. Whenever I get to thinking things might be winding down towards the end, she surprises me. The first call yesterday was nice, but the second call was a surprise. She was all wound up again, and I had to do some of my best boyfriend work to get her back unwound. I'll tell you what, I am pretty goddam good at my job. When I'm motivated, I am a **** boyfriend (out of *****) ... at least.

This morning I abandoned the Principle to call her, since I promised I'd let her know what I found out from Betty. This was around 11:00 or so. I was also curious to see what shape she'd be in, as she and Nicole spent most of Saturday getting bombed, and she was drinking a little more while I talked to her yesterday. She was in better shape than I would have figured, though. But again, she was a little nervous, and I had to get to work and let her know that I thought she was great, she'd be fine, and so forth. She was also a little worried, because the Boozemaggedon ended up being more expensive than she'd planned, and her gas tank was empty, and she wasn't quite sure yet how she was going to pull off getting herself to Newport.

I had an idea, of course, but I hung onto it. She can be prideful and stubborn, and I knew she'd say no. She had some options yet to explore anyway.

On a hunch, I stuck around the house. The phone rang at 1:30. Hello, Jennifer. Sometimes I'm so smart I just scare myself. She was past nervous now, and all the way up to terrified, and just about to freak out. This job, and the opportunity it represents to her, has assumed such an importance in her mind that anxiety was killing her. So I talked her down again. And I waited her out on the other subject. I wasn't going to push, but if and when it came up she was going to know that I was willing to help.

And it did come up, and she hadn't had any luck with the other options, so she wasn't sure what to do. But she just could not ask me for help here. It's complicated, but being somewhat the same way my own self, I get it. She was kind of looking at it like she was screwed, and if I were any of the other guys she knows, she really might have been. But I'm Sparky, and I'm not like other guys.

"I can think of two options," I said. There is a solution to every problem. And I always have a Plan B.
a) I could give her a ride down there myself.
b) I could loan her some money for gas.
I didn't really have a preference, but I was willing to go with either option.

This, of course, led to a debate, but with the clock ticking now she couldn't fight me off for too long, and I was stubborn and held my ground. The help was there if you need it. "You know," she said, "things like this aren't really in your job description."
"I write my own job description."

She relented, finally, and accepted some help. I don't know why I meet so many tough chicks, but it's rare the one that can out-stubborn me, especially when I'm trying to do the Knight thing. I'm just relentlessly helpful and won't take no for an answer.

This is how it shook down. I drove up to Sharon (that's a town), and lent her $5 so she could make it down to White River, where she'd meet Sherrie, who was going to lend her more. Sherrie came through right at the last minute while I was on the other line. So my contribution wasn't enormous, but she wouldn't have made it without my help.

I talked to her a few minutes before she left. She isn't what you would call a very sentimental girl in the conventional sense (and there are reasons for that), but she was very grateful for the help. Jen doesn't always show how she's feeling in the way I'm used to from past girlfriends, but I've learned how to tell. And I know.

I hope she's having a good night. She deserves to have a good job where she's happy. Ultimately, what I want out of this is for her to be happy. She's done a lot for me. I want to return the favor.