Oh man, did I ever pick the wrong moment to pee. It's true, I left Steve alone in my office (on my day off, although we decided to go to the office for roof-top views etc.) so that I could use the girl's room down the hall, and of course at that moment the weird Morganton NC maintenance men showed up to assemble two chairs (a task I was instructed NOT to do, being a girl and thereby helpless-get the picture?) and of course I had left Steve alone for the only four minutes during which things were destined to be weird. But when I say destined to be weird, what else would I mean except that things have to get weird when Morganton-maintenance-men show up?

It's stupid that things got so weird. The men could have

a) asked Steve who the hell he was (which would have been valid since I am the only office employee at this time, and I wasn't theren with him.)
b) ?
c) been weird

The men chose c, although a would be the only logical/human response, although this company is neither logical nor human since they sent two men 50 miles (not a responsible response in terms of gas OR company time) to assemble two chairs that I could have put together using sheer will if not my own skill(s).

And I too even tried to make jokes with the men, and I smiled my best harmless smile, and they (at least one of them) even ignored ME and am I not their long-distance coworker, and shouldn't they at least try to be nice?

I hated the whole thing, and I hated my company even more, and I apologize publicly to Steve for drinking that Thai Iced Tea at lunch (probably the cause of my temporary exit from the room.)

All this to say: the public's inability (UNWILLINGNESS) to speak/interact/respond makes poetry even more subversive than any of us thought.