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Joey

It's Saturday Afternoon and I am going crazy. I miss Joey. Joey is my co-worker and best friend. This past week we lost one of our fellow co-workers. We were both pretty close to this man. He died suddenly due to an error made my the hospital.

Joey is on vacation this coming week. So I will pretty much have to handle the whole thing by myself. The death of our friend has hit us both pretty hard.  Joey is on vacation with his wife. They are celebrating 25 years of marriage. It's impressive. To arrive at their vacation destination they were going to have to spend 12 hours in the car together.

I have been on 12 hour road trips before. You really learn a lot about a person being trapped in a car with them for that long. Joey and his wife do not always get along. He loves her. I know this. I don't know why he loves her exactly. I find her to have all of the warmth of a Rabid Wolverine.   But then again, I might be a little biased and even a bit jealous given the fact that I am in love with Joey and have been for years.

At any rate, he called me this morning around 11 a.m. from the road. Joey and I have been together long enough I know what the conversation was about without him having to even say it. He called me because he had forgotten to tell me he left the boss' number on his voice mail because the boss hadn't said if he wanted me to cover for him next week.

He then went on to talk about an order that he had left on his desk. The order isn't due for a very long time & we had already disgussed it- but I played along and asked all the right questions. Like I said, I knew what the conversation was about without him having to say it. He then told me that he hated thinking of things like this when he was on the road & he would talk to me next week.

Now on the surface anyone hearing that conversation would think that it was about work. But it wasn't. You see everyone leaves the boss' number on their voice mail when they go on vacation. It is SOP. That order he was all worked up about, isn't due for weeks & it is super easy. The conversation wasn't about our work at all it was about hers.

Joey's wife Cindy is a workaholic. The woman talks non-stop. Joey complains all the time about how she just wont shut up. He says even on small hour long trips she will get 10 different work phone calls on her cell phone. So, Joey and Cindy had been on the road a couple of hours. She had probably spent most of it on her cell phone. Joey got upset because this was suppose to be their romantic time away together and instead it was as it always has been- work comes first for Cindy. Poor Joey doesn't even hit the top 10. He is just the guy that takes out her trash and gets her oil changed.

Joey is very sensitive. He was feeling neglected and unloved- so rather than saying "Cindy it bothers me when you spend all of our together time taking on your cell phone to your co-workers"- Because he knew Cindy would tear him a new one. He decided to call me and drum up some quick work conversation to show her how it feels. The whole thinking about work stuff on the road was a direct shot at her- trying to tell her without telling her. The whole "talk to you next week" again was for her- wanting to tell her that's it no more work away from work.

The sad part is- well there are two sad parts. The first sad part is Cindy will be completely oblivious to these signals. After all the entire planet revolves around her. The second sad part is- after being in love with Joey for years, I have finally come to the sad realization of what exactly these type of conversations mean.

You see in the past, I would have mistaken Joey's call to mean that he missed me. He needed to talk to me again. I would have thought that him calling ME had something to do with ME. It doesn't.

So they will drive their 12 hours. And eventually they will make it to their destination. They will fight most of the way. But once they are checked into their nice room- and go and have a nice dinner- everything will be right as rain. They will have a nice time. I am sure of it.

I miss Joey. I see him more often than I do any of my friends or family. We spend more time with each other than we do our family- just the nature of the job. I am jealous that he has gone away with her. I am jealous of what they have.