the rix mix

There are moments - brief periods - when I feel as though I'm channeling Alternative Bob. I'm persuasive, assertive, a bit apologetic, generally likable, & I get someone to bend a little bit to my will without  that person feeling  ill-will, more like they're doing the right thing. Today, I moved  someone  to go ten minutes into her strictly scheduled lunch hour & finish paperwork rather than making me cool my heels for an hour, which she had right to do & I think had intended to do, & I would have accepted, when we realized some necessary paperwork hadn't been faxed to her.  But I got on  the cell, pushed another person on the phonr to do the fax immediately, while I was filling out a form - I was obviously prepared to take care of matters right there & then, & the woman in front  of me was just carried along. When we were done - I was very grateful - I promised next time I would not rush her or try to delay  her lunch, & I meant it.

Alternative Bob  is   different from Passive-Aggressive Bob.  P-A Bob either freaks out or pulls into a shell. P-A Bob was telling Alternative Bob that it was too close to lunch hour. But Alternative Bob said, "I ain't browsing   Radio Shack next door for an hour just to stay out of this awful humidity if I can help it."

I may have mentioned  Alternative Bob. He's  my alternative storyline.  I suspect most of us have one or more.  I'm pretty certain he married a nurse named Helen around 1980, & became either a high school history teacher or an employee of the New Jersey State Park system.  Alternative Bob may have had a WFMU radio show for about five years, & only dabbled in poetry, but  writes   a lot on  music & other subjects.   He's a natural interdisciplinary high school teacher,   &  very good  at explaining  historical sites. If he's a teacher, he's good but the type who avoids too much extracurricular stuff.   He is still married to Helen, They reside somewhere like Rahway or Keyport or Toms River,  a town with history,  in a small, old house, maybe a bungalow with dormers or an addition, & a piano.  Alternative Bob's Alternative Bob is a songwriter & plays  keyboards in a band.