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nerdiethings2018-03-19 04:31 pm
nerdietalk) wrote in nerdiethings2018-03-19 04:31 pm
Rod's Blessings - An FM/Progress City Story
It was hours before the cast of weirdos and nonsense trash fiends finally left his abode. He sighed at the scene of disarray of his kitchen before kneeling down to pick up what remained of his silverware.
"Need some help?"
He glanced up (though not very up) to see Oswald looking at him.
"Oh. No, its alright. What are you doing back?"
"Merlin left his bag and I thought I should volunteer to get it before Marnie did."
Of course. "Thank you, Oswald. Its appreciated."
Oswald slipped past him, hopping over to a big bulky bag in the other room. Feeling a little more comfortable, Rod focused on the kitchen.
"Thirty four pages, huh?"
He sighed. "Its efficient."
"You sure about that?"
Rod grimaced up at him. "You have a few entries yourself, you know, I have no trouble adding more."
Oswald lifted up his hands in defense. "I'm just saying Rod. It seems like you're just doing that thing you always do."
"Which is?"
"Stew."
"Stew?"
"Stew."
"I don't... stew."
"You kind of do."
He rose up to his feet, less angrily and more irritated. "Alright, then how do I stew?"
Oswald gestured aimlessly. "I don't know, its like... you get stuck in your head. Fussing and worrying about all sorts of things and getting tied up thinking about this and that."
Rod felt himself squirm a little involuntarily. "I don't know what you mean."
"Well, take it from the guy who's gotten stuck in his head a few times. Its not a fun place to be."
Rod's features relaxed, slightly as Oswald smiled sympathetically up at him. "...I suppose you're right, in a way. Its an old habit. I'm not sure I know how to break it."
"I can understand that. Its a hard habit to break." Oswald rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Then a grin rose up his face. "Alright, how about this: a new list?"
"I think we've seen how that turned out."
"No, a different kind. Write about things that make you happy! Something that cheers you up after a hard day. You could try to type one up once a day."
He raised an eyebrow. "It sounds kind of... childish."
"Hey, if counting your grievances has gone this poorly, why not count your blessings?"
Count your blessings.
Huh.
"...Maybe just for a while."
"No harm in trying!"
-----
Blessing 1: Oswald's kindness
-----
Blessing 2: the flowerbeds at the Magic Kingdom entrance are coming along nicely
-----
Blessing 4: Bill turned in a report and there was 50% less insults than last time and he even said a polite goodbye
-----
Grievance 694: No, wait, the first letter of every sentence of his report spelled Dicks.
Blessing 7: its actually kind of impressive he put in that amount of work
-----
Blessing 15: Tcherno told a joke that made Kim laugh and the pleased look on his face was pretty adorable
-----
Blessing 36: Abe talked to me about how he felt about Walt's death and I really appreciate that he felt he could trust me with something that personal
-----
Blessing 74: Mugsy and Kate actually paid me back for letting them have the diner to themselves one night and I wasn't expecting it.
-----
Blessing 142: a dog liked my hand and it was a beautiful moment for everyone, I think
-----
By Walt, he could not believe Bill today. All he asked was for some simple respect and he just flew off the handle again. It was stuff like this that made it so hard to run this park.
He launched up his computer once again with Excel and prepared to start typing.
And then he noticed something interesting on the Excel start menu.
Huh.
Had it really been a month since he opened up the grievance document?
He stared at the date in consideration for a long moment. Then he opened up the blessing document once again. He remembered a smiling face or two from the customers. He remembered how that compliment seemed to light up John's day. And he remembered how smoothly the park was running, at least for the moment.
He clicked a few buttons.
Delete "Grievances"?
Enter.
"Need some help?"
He glanced up (though not very up) to see Oswald looking at him.
"Oh. No, its alright. What are you doing back?"
"Merlin left his bag and I thought I should volunteer to get it before Marnie did."
Of course. "Thank you, Oswald. Its appreciated."
Oswald slipped past him, hopping over to a big bulky bag in the other room. Feeling a little more comfortable, Rod focused on the kitchen.
"Thirty four pages, huh?"
He sighed. "Its efficient."
"You sure about that?"
Rod grimaced up at him. "You have a few entries yourself, you know, I have no trouble adding more."
Oswald lifted up his hands in defense. "I'm just saying Rod. It seems like you're just doing that thing you always do."
"Which is?"
"Stew."
"Stew?"
"Stew."
"I don't... stew."
"You kind of do."
He rose up to his feet, less angrily and more irritated. "Alright, then how do I stew?"
Oswald gestured aimlessly. "I don't know, its like... you get stuck in your head. Fussing and worrying about all sorts of things and getting tied up thinking about this and that."
Rod felt himself squirm a little involuntarily. "I don't know what you mean."
"Well, take it from the guy who's gotten stuck in his head a few times. Its not a fun place to be."
Rod's features relaxed, slightly as Oswald smiled sympathetically up at him. "...I suppose you're right, in a way. Its an old habit. I'm not sure I know how to break it."
"I can understand that. Its a hard habit to break." Oswald rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Then a grin rose up his face. "Alright, how about this: a new list?"
"I think we've seen how that turned out."
"No, a different kind. Write about things that make you happy! Something that cheers you up after a hard day. You could try to type one up once a day."
He raised an eyebrow. "It sounds kind of... childish."
"Hey, if counting your grievances has gone this poorly, why not count your blessings?"
Count your blessings.
Huh.
"...Maybe just for a while."
"No harm in trying!"
-----
Blessing 1: Oswald's kindness
-----
Blessing 2: the flowerbeds at the Magic Kingdom entrance are coming along nicely
-----
Blessing 4: Bill turned in a report and there was 50% less insults than last time and he even said a polite goodbye
-----
Grievance 694: No, wait, the first letter of every sentence of his report spelled Dicks.
Blessing 7: its actually kind of impressive he put in that amount of work
-----
Blessing 15: Tcherno told a joke that made Kim laugh and the pleased look on his face was pretty adorable
-----
Blessing 36: Abe talked to me about how he felt about Walt's death and I really appreciate that he felt he could trust me with something that personal
-----
Blessing 74: Mugsy and Kate actually paid me back for letting them have the diner to themselves one night and I wasn't expecting it.
-----
Blessing 142: a dog liked my hand and it was a beautiful moment for everyone, I think
-----
By Walt, he could not believe Bill today. All he asked was for some simple respect and he just flew off the handle again. It was stuff like this that made it so hard to run this park.
He launched up his computer once again with Excel and prepared to start typing.
And then he noticed something interesting on the Excel start menu.
Huh.
Had it really been a month since he opened up the grievance document?
He stared at the date in consideration for a long moment. Then he opened up the blessing document once again. He remembered a smiling face or two from the customers. He remembered how that compliment seemed to light up John's day. And he remembered how smoothly the park was running, at least for the moment.
He clicked a few buttons.
Delete "Grievances"?
Enter.