Some of it was genuine curiosity.
Some of it was the specific thing that happens when someone shows up as a different person than you expected and you want to understand the gap.
A man named Patrick said: I always thought you were going to do something good.
I said: why?
He said: I don’t know.
He
said: you had something.
He said: I couldn’t name it then.
He said: but you had something.
I said: I was miserable.
He said: yes.
He said: you were miserable and you still had something.
He said: that’s the thing.
He said: the people who are miserable and still have something.
He said: those are the ones.
I did not know what to do with this entirely.
I accepted it as something being offered in good faith.
Then I saw the organizers’ table.
Dana was there.
Jennifer was there.
A few others I recognized from the inner circle.
