Salad Bar

The other day at work my manager and I were cleaning around the salad bar, and she was complaining about one of the girls that called off with a lame excuse. I asked her what the worst one she ever heard was, and she told me that one guy said that he couldn't work breakfast because he had insomnia. Man, I said, that's such a lame, unbelievable excuse. She looks at me and says "I had insomnia for three years in high school".

Feeling more inquisitive than reproached, I excitedly ask, "Really! Wow! That sucks! Did you have to go to, like, a million doctors?"

Yeah, she said, I had to go to a couple. But what really sucked was getting behind on my schoolwork and stuff.

Why? I asked. Did you forget to do your homework?

Sometimes, she said.

Wow, that's amazing! Three years! Did you, like, forget your family?

She gives me a weird look. "No . . . "

This is about the time that I piece it all together. Insomnia ≠ amnesia. I felt really retarded. I mutter out some lame sentence about how they sound alike and hurried over to wipe down tables.