You ever feel like you're trying out for your own life? Like almost everyone around you, that should accept you the way you are, constantly judges you and tries to change what makes you, you? All that does is make you feel like a lost cause.
There's this guy, Larry, that works at Verizon with me. He's older (50's I'd say) and his life hasn't exactly panned out the way it should have. Larry has a 2 degrees, he's worked for LA City Fire, worked as an EMT, and yet finds himself living in a sub-par apartment complex in Hemet. Hell, people who live in affluent neighborhoods and big houses catch shit for living in Hemet, so when you're Larry's age and in an apartment in Hemet, your life has clearly veered off course. Anyways, it appears Larry has done more drugs than you're supposed to and it's affected how fast he speaks, his volume, and his ability to comprehend. By the way, the "drugs" he's done is completely made up... he may have, he may haven't.... I've never asked. So because of his slow demeanor, he has the reputation as the yard simpleton whom you can kind of boss around and know he'll just accept it and do what he's told, albeit, very slowly (i've never bossed him around personally). So I had always wondered how a person comes to be like that. How does a man, an educated man who's accomplished more than most, become, for lack of a better term, Larry?
Well, the plot started to thicken one typical Monday morning when our boss Eric came out to meet us, as he does every morning, and had a story about seeing Larry at the local Starbucks. As Eric is waiting in the drive-thru he hears a woman losing her shit; yelling and screaming and just being overall obnoxious. So he takes notice and watches as the events play out just outside of his truck window. As the argument escalates, the female stands up and throws an ashtray full of the days disgusting ashes and butts at the gentleman she was berating. The gentleman sits there, stoic, as she storms off. Just as she's out of sight he stands up to brush the disgust of himself, turns a quarter turn and reveals his identity to Eric. It's Larry. And the lovely woman is his wife. So naturally, Eric rolls his window up as fast as possible and goes about his day.
So hearing this as work, we get a tiny glimpse into the after-hours activities Larry gets to partake in. That's when we start to actually feel remorse for the guy. The years he's put in to this marriage have brought him to an infant state. His "wife" has basically steam-rolled him, who was probably a really nice guy (too nice), into submission so now he's constantly under her thumb. Under her watchful and judging eyes. She drops him off every morning for work and picks him up every afternoon (which, by the way, is a sight in itself as she flies through the yard at uncalled for speeds with reckless abandon). And if he's not at the yard when she's there at 3:30, there is either hell to pay or he has to find a way home as we found out one day when we were told he was looking for a ride the previous afternoon because he wasn't at the yard in time.
So this is Larry's life. It's day in and day out pass or fail and, in my eyes, not fair and no way to treat another human being... especially one you're supposed to be married to. Larry is a sad, old man. I think about what could have been for him. And even though we tease him and we help build his reputation, I think the guy deserves better and I feel bad for him. The only thing we can do, and have been doing, is pissing her off at every opportunity we get. Either by going extra slow through the yard when she's behind us or, like we did today, drive out the center of the driveway so she has to wait til our entire crew has left the yard before she can come in... which very visibly upset her. But then I can't help but think we ruined Larry's weekend by doing that.
So to sum it all up, Larry was probably a fairly above average guy who's maturation process was stumped and reversed by being treated the way he has, because at some point, once a man has been treated like that long enough he WILL give up any and all control, hope, and care and you'll be left with a drone, a robot, an emotionless creature that will do what you say and not have an opinion.
