Lawyering Through Life

You've Got Mail

I love Meg Ryan movies. Or at least the romantic comedy ones she makes. I realize she has tried to break out of this typecast, but to me, she will always be Sally of When Harry Met, Annie of Sleepless in Seattle, and Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail. I have one major characteristic in common with Kathleen Kelly. I never come up with the right thing to say at the right time. I constantly say clever things to people’s backs. A few days after TH and I would have a serious discussion or a disagreement, the perfect witty retort or comeback would dawn on me. I would then call TH, remind him of the previous conversation and then ‘wow’ him with my new insights. Usually, he just laughed at my quirky need to do this and we wouldn’t dwell on it.

Kathleen Kelly faces this same problem throughout the movie. She stands speechless as Tom Hanks’ character, Joe Fox, the bargain book bad guy, needles her with hurtful comments. Finally, she has her moment of zen and says exactly what is on her mind, leaving Joe Fox at a loss for words. She thinks she will feel triumphant for finally aligning her thought process and power of speech, but instead she agonizes over her comments. As an aside, her name IS Kathleen Kelly, so readers, we shouldn’t be surprised she too suffers from the ICGC.

This morning, I had a similar moment of zen. I realized last night that TH still possessed a little something that had been given to me by a former boss. I hesitate to reveal what is so promise not to judge. It is a pencil sharpener shaped like the Millennium Falcon. I love the original Star Wars movies but I am by no means obsessed. When I take tests and get nervous, I would hold the MF in my hand, like those squishy stress balls, and it calmed me down and helped me to focus. I had the MF with me during the bar exam and I loaned it to TH for his final exam last semester. Hopefully, my explanation justifies why I absolutely positively need to have it back. TH can NOT possess my test taking good luck charm!

I emailed TH to request the MF back. My email was terse, instructing him to drop the MF through the mail slot at my apartment. No contact or response necessary. He replies promptly, with a witty comment that infuriates me. I debate my next move. Do I ignore the email or do I reply? At that exact moment, I realized why I needed to reply. I FINALLY knew exactly what I wanted to say, at the exact moment I wanted to say it. I needed to take control of this moment, be a little nasty if I felt like it and not feel guilty about it. So I did. Perhaps it was immature to not just let the whole thing go but sometimes, those with broken hearts just can’t find the high road.

posted by jersey @ 11:09 AM