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I took the spring semester of my sophomore year at UT (the spring of 2003) off to work full time at a Wendy's so I could afford to return to school in the fall. In the February of that year, I ended it with the Republican once and for all. Newly single and working full time instead of going to school, it naturally followed that I should develop a crush on a coworker, Wendy's Guy. Wendy's Guy was, to be somewhat politically insensitive, one of approximately four people (myself included) who spoke fluent English at my workplace. The others were a girl about my age but twice my size and an annoying married man. Wendy's Guy was my only viable option unless you counted customers, but I didn't see the same ones every day. Wendy's Guy was a sweetheart, plus he had a degree in math. I could not fathom why he chose to work in a fast food establishment, but it was enough that he was educated and kind. He never had a bad day or spoke unkindly to anyone, and his cheerful demeanor was neither false nor annoyingly perky. I began talking to him more often, now that I saw him on a near-daily basis, and I gradually developed a crush that soon spiraled out of control. Naturally, my coworkers noticed and teased me about it. I blushed beet red and tried to deny it, but in vain. Finally, one coworker took pity on me. "We should get you two together," she said. "Really? How?" I asked, intrigued. We discussed possibilities, but I was too shy and leery of disaster to do anything myself. She took it upon herself to arrange everything for me. I was ecstatic for twenty-four hours. Then— "Lauren!" she told me one night frantically. "?" "He's dating ___!" Wendy's Guy was dating one of our coworkers. "! What? But how? That's impossible!" "I know, but it's what [our manager] said." "How did she know?" "She set them up." "What! But that's ridiculous! But they never talk to each other or anything . . . Are you sure?" "That's what she said." We puzzled over it for a while. How could it be? Wendy's Guy and his supposed girlfriend worked together all day every day and never spoke a word to each other. Indeed, she hardly spoke a word of English, and he scarcely spoke Spanish. I guess that explained the nature of their relationship. Damn it, why couldn't the manager have set him up with me? And why had neither he nor anybody else ever mentioned it to me? My coworker offered to help me break up Wendy's Guy and his apparent girlfriend, but I was too ashamed. I was so embarrassed that I figured I'd have to leave and seek another job, which, a few months later, I did. A few weeks later, I started back at UT and was not at Wendy's as much as I previously had been, so that saved me some embarrassment. Being around college boys again detracted my attention from Wendy's Guy, and later in the semester, I met a couple of guys while working on a film who really got my attention, and, naturally, proved far more embarrassing than the incident with the Wendy's Guy had. |