Here's A Clue, For You All: Pay Attention, Will

It was Miss scArLeT, two of them, quite separately, cuts he never saw coming from the front (Titus, I.i.354) and the back (Julius, III.i.77), in the office. And now he's all dead and gone.

Riddle Me This

It does not beat, because it is broken. Forever.

A Friend In Need

It's funny how things in life you consider pillars can crumble, or at least aren't as strong as you might have first thought. It's funny how things aren't as perfect as they might seem. How the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side. How your perspective can change because of what you know and how things change in relativity.

I've got a friend called Mike. Mike has a hell of a lot more things going on that I would ever have guessed. He rang me up tonight. I think he just needed someone to talk to. The trouble is, I didn't know what I could possibly say back to him. I felt extraordinarily helpless.

You see, Mike's getting wound up at work. He works longer hours than I do at a big accounting firm. Up at the crack of dawn and all the way through to the small hours of the morning. I'd be surprised if he ever gets to see sunlight. Mike's pretty good at what he does; his problem is that he doesn't want to do it. Now I'm not one to know much about accounting, but apparently he is working in an area where he doesn't want to be. The poor guy is drowning in work. He has no life. He works in the weekends. He'd work in his sleep if he could. What a workaholic. I tell him he should play golf. After all, isn't that what all professionals need to master to really get ahead at work?

The problem is that there are more than just work issues going on for Mike. Because Mike has personal problems as well. Imagine someone you know well is dying. It must be the worst thing in the world, especially if you can't do anything about it. Because that's what Mike told me tonight. I was stunned. I can't imagine anything worse. Why it's tough for Mike is that it's not just one person. It's two. I could hear the sadness well up from him inside, and probably for the first time in my life I wished I had been by just to give him a hug or a pat on the shoulder. I wish he had told me sooner. A burden shared is a burden halved, in my opinion. He seemed so trapped and helpless. I don't know why he was telling me this; I'm sure he must have other close friends to talk to.

As it transpires, Mike has more personal issues. His love life is in critical condition. I tell you that I did not think anyone's could be worse than mine until he unfolded this all on me! Anyway, he's had a couple of run-ins lately, a couple of girls who he grew attached to, one of whom played some silly games with him and left the poor guy in a pretty confused state by the sounds of things to me. What a waste of time. I don't know why he bothered with the strumpet, but love is blind as they say. No sooner had he got over that one than he promptly fell for another girl who sounded much nicer. To cut a long story short (I learnt how to be longwinded from this guy), he thought they got on really well and by all accounts they actually did. But the girl just wanted to be friends and didn't want to lose him. And while he hurts he knows that there may be some truth to it. But the kicker is that he never did get to tell her or even float it all - it was all done through mutual friends and how the whole topic even got out there was unideal for everyone. So he really wants to talk to her to clear it all up at least for closure, but doesn't know what to say or how to say it. Now everyone has their weaknesses, but Mike's a pretty good guy and I reckon that any girl would be lucky to go out with him. I reckon that if he wasn't single he would definitely cut back his work hours for a start. He might even be free for a few drinks after work with me for the first time in goodness knows how long. So anyway, Mike's problem is that he doesn't really know what the problem is, save that he thinks this girl is fantastic, she partially reciprocates in that she likes him but not in the same way, and he doesn't know if that would ever change or whether his poor little heart is going to have another part chunked out of it for good. Goodness knows enough girls have had a hack at it over the years. Unlucky in love, I suppose.

Anyway, I suspect that why Mike called me up is because he was having trouble talking to some of his friends as well, the closer ones who he really trusted. And so this is what got me thinking that maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side. Mike has a load of acquaintances, and then a few very close friends in whom he confides practically everything. Good thing he isn't a lawyer. But it seems that his close friends have their own things to worry about. Friends who go distant on him, stop talking to him. Friends who have their own issues that they are struggling to deal with themselves. Friends who he wants to count on but now realises he can't because maybe they need him or because they have to fix themselves first. And he wants to help them because they are true blue friends to him, but whether they want him to or he actually can he doesn't know. So yet again, as with work, and his personal life, and his love life, he doesn't know what to do. And I don't know what he does about it. If anyone was ever in a pressure cooker right now, I think it would be him.

Well actually, it seems he does know what to do, kind of. Calling me. But I don't even know where to start. He overwhelmed me - I knew he worked long hours but that was about it. I suppose you peel back the layers and find that there is more. I don't know how he copes either. He talks sometimes but he doesn't really tell everything to everyone. I'm surprised I got the whole package. And for all that, I had nothing to say to help him. Or advise him. I felt pretty useless. There was just so much going on that I didn't know about and didn't know how to help him. So I blog. Because surely some of my more faithful readers might have some suggestions. I'm fresh out. And I thought I had issues of my own - damn!