10:53
I was making tea today, and a loose thread of memory surfaced. When I was 19 I worked at an insurance company as a pensions clerk. We spent our days doing manual calculations of pension benefits. One of my colleagues was Derek who has not crossed my mind in 20 years. Why did I think of Derek today - after all these years?
We were going into a team meeting one day and stopped at the vending machine to get tea or coffee. The machine was out of black tea, so Derek chose lemon tea instead. He was making tea so did what he usually did and added milk! Milk! In Lemon Tea! It curdled at once and he stared into his cup with confusion.
After duly mocking him we explained to him that milk and lemon don't go together. He was a country boy, who'd come to the big city to work and make a brighter future for himself: adding milk to lemon tea was not a good omen for that future.
Why do random threads of memory weave their way back into your conscience after so many years? Where in the world is Derek today? Somewhere with a dazzling present I hope.
10:58
I was making tea today, and a loose thread of memory surfaced. When I was 19 I worked at an insurance company as a pensions clerk. We spent our days doing manual calculations of pension benefits. One of my colleagues was Derek who has not crossed my mind in 20 years. Why did I think of Derek today - after all these years?
We were going into a team meeting one day and stopped at the vending machine to get tea or coffee. The machine was out of black tea, so Derek chose lemon tea instead. He was making tea so did what he usually did and added milk! Milk! In Lemon Tea! It curdled at once and he stared into his cup with confusion.
After duly mocking him we explained to him that milk and lemon don't go together. He was a country boy, who'd come to the big city to work and make a brighter future for himself: adding milk to lemon tea was not a good omen for that future.
Why do random threads of memory weave their way back into your conscience after so many years? Where in the world is Derek today? Somewhere with a dazzling present I hope.
10:58
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