Guest Speaker

Conversation Overheard

All I want is to be left alone, she said.

I knew the feeling, so I listened, silent.

I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.  Ever.  If I want their opinion, I will ask for it.  Not before.

What would she like to do, I wondered.  What would she do if no one told her?

If it were up to me, she said, as if she heard me, I would spend my time reading whatever I wanted.

I could relate…

And then I would spend the rest of my time writing, anything I liked.  And I would decide who read it and who didn’t.  It would be my choice.

And I would sleep whenever I pleased.  Or not.  And no one would judge me for time spent in or out of bed.  It is not their business.

No, it was no one else’s business…

And I would go wherever I pleased and stay as long as I liked.  Schedules wouldn’t dictate—or costs.

Ah!  A fantasy…

And only those I wanted to see would appear and no one else.  Not even on Facebook.  And I would never answer my phone.  She was becoming adamant.

No one would pass laws or lay down rules I didn’t like.  They would not apply to me.  I would not be accountable.  And passionate.

She was just warming up—clothes, food, ideologies–so I let her rant.  And thought about what she’d said.  After a moment:

“But, isn’t this how you live already?” I had the temerity to ask.

Who asked you, she said.  And gave me that look.  It’s none of your business.

It wasn’t.  She was right.  I was still letting someone else tell me what to do.