2 + 2 = Happiness

Now I may be the one writing the blog about life after the world tried to eat me, but unfortunately I have to admit that I don't think I'm all that unique in my early quarter-life crisis. Just notice the plethora of people my age who have suddenly taken up spandex and marathon running and you may realize we're all looking for a little direction. What was it again that I thought would fill the space between the years of thirsty-Thursdays and driving the soccer* mom van? Oh right, my CAREER.

So, I work in a pizza joint.

And as I serve pizzas, I work with a lot of people whose lives have been different** than mine. While I see this as a positive experience, I am also very aware that many of my coworkers did not grow up in The City of Tomorrow, Today.

One of the guys I work with, let's call him Joe, asked me if I would help tutor him in math as he is trying to get his GED. Somewhere along the way of me explaining sin x= opposite/hypoteneuse it came out that Joe, who is 25, never graduated high school because he was busy selling drugs. This apparently led to a crippling, not to mention expensive, drug and alcohol addiction until about a year ago when he decided to get sober. Now he is trying to get his life back in order and go to college. I sat there listening to him explain how for years he tried to figure out the equation that would bring happiness. (His words, not mine, but don't think I didn't notice the perfect significance...) I was surprised to realize as I listened to him talk that I could have so much in common with a recovering drug addict. Of course, his failed equations involved pot dealing and cocaine while mine included high-school teaching and graduate classes, but the results were the same. Neither of us got the right answer.

And that's when I realized that I was doing the wrong subject. I should know better as an English major. Life is not a series of terms that can be added together to find a correct answer. It's more like one of those poems that no one ever really understands. Some people find it funny, some find it sad, some get frustrated or annoyed. Some people will spend a lifetime trying to understand the meaning.

I've always thought the truly lucky ones are those who just enjoy the way it sounds.


*I fully intend to poison my children's minds against soccer at a very young age as my parents did mine... but that is irrelevant here.
**To understand the full extent of this gross understatement you would have had to have been present for my "Well, I've never actually done ecstasy, but I hear it can be a good time?" conversation.