“And then she told me about her brothers and her father and her uncles and her cousins, even her mother before she was born… all of them working in those mills. Some of them dying in them. Some of them dying because of them. Mandy was the first one from her family for as long as anyone could remember to not have to work in one. She was the only one who made it out…
“And you never heard a young lady cry so hard and apologize so zealously.” Ellie laughed weakly and covered her mouth. “But I never skipped out on my work again, I’ll tell you that much. Well, until today that is…”
Cal’s stomach was on the verge of betraying him. He placed his hand over his belly as it rumbled and growled.
He was wishing to God that he hadn’t pried. He should have known better. If his life had taught him only one thing it was that the surest way to avoid trouble was to keep his mouth shut and not ask questions. But Cal had never been one to avoid trouble, or to keep his mouth shut. It was a particularly bad habit of his, or a good habit depending on the situation. This was not one of those good situations, but he certainly couldn’t un-ask the questions or gloss over the topic now that he knew how deeply it was affecting her. He wasn’t heartless, after all—at least he tried not to be—and that was usually what drew him to trouble in the first place.
“Oh God, those poor people. It just pains me too much to stand.” Ellie shook her head slowly and then put her hands back on her face. When she spoke this time her tone was more level, but he could sense that kindness and concern in her voice that had touched him from the very beginning.
As much as he regretted bringing up this topic, he couldn’t deny that he was glad to know how she felt. It eased him and warmed him to know just how deeply the workers’ plight moved her, to know that they stood on the same side of such an important issue… as if he’d expected a woman with as much care and selflessness as she’d shown him, under such unordinary circumstances no less, to feel any other way.
“It’s so easy to forget how good we have it, you know?” She wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. “When things aren’t going exactly how we’d want them to go, whatever those things might be, it’s so easy to feel like everything in the world is wrong and bad. And it’s even easier to feel like we are the only one who feels this way and we are the only one who matters. But that’s not true, is it?”
“No. It’s not.”
“I mean no matter how bad we think we have it, if we step back and look at it all from a fresh perspective, from the eyes of other people, we see things so differently. We see we aren’t the center of the world, much less the universe, and that the things we think are so horrible in our life really aren’t that bad at all. Some people have it so much worse.”
“Someone is always going to have it worse…” Cal mused. “But that doesn’t invalidate our own feelings.”
“Oh, not at all. But it does put them in perspective.”
“How so?”
She sniffled again. “Here I was all upset, fuming even, that you wouldn’t answer my questions and that you wouldn’t explain this ridiculous situation that you put me in when you didn’t even really put me in it— it was my choice to come with you!—I could have said no, but I didn’t. And I didn’t want to and that’s not your fault.”
She threw her hands in front of her body pointing at Cal and then herself as she continued, “And I was angry at you for teasing me, I was even angrier at myself for enjoying it… And I was just working myself all up for what?” She exhaled slowly. “I can’t change the fact that I felt these things, or that the feelings were real and valid, but that’s not the important question. What we should be asking is: are those feelings worth it? ”
Cal shifted his weight and took a step closer to her. “What are you getting
“And you never heard a young lady cry so hard and apologize so zealously.” Ellie laughed weakly and covered her mouth. “But I never skipped out on my work again, I’ll tell you that much. Well, until today that is…”
Cal’s stomach was on the verge of betraying him. He placed his hand over his belly as it rumbled and growled.
He was wishing to God that he hadn’t pried. He should have known better. If his life had taught him only one thing it was that the surest way to avoid trouble was to keep his mouth shut and not ask questions. But Cal had never been one to avoid trouble, or to keep his mouth shut. It was a particularly bad habit of his, or a good habit depending on the situation. This was not one of those good situations, but he certainly couldn’t un-ask the questions or gloss over the topic now that he knew how deeply it was affecting her. He wasn’t heartless, after all—at least he tried not to be—and that was usually what drew him to trouble in the first place.
“Oh God, those poor people. It just pains me too much to stand.” Ellie shook her head slowly and then put her hands back on her face. When she spoke this time her tone was more level, but he could sense that kindness and concern in her voice that had touched him from the very beginning.
As much as he regretted bringing up this topic, he couldn’t deny that he was glad to know how she felt. It eased him and warmed him to know just how deeply the workers’ plight moved her, to know that they stood on the same side of such an important issue… as if he’d expected a woman with as much care and selflessness as she’d shown him, under such unordinary circumstances no less, to feel any other way.
“It’s so easy to forget how good we have it, you know?” She wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. “When things aren’t going exactly how we’d want them to go, whatever those things might be, it’s so easy to feel like everything in the world is wrong and bad. And it’s even easier to feel like we are the only one who feels this way and we are the only one who matters. But that’s not true, is it?”
“No. It’s not.”
“I mean no matter how bad we think we have it, if we step back and look at it all from a fresh perspective, from the eyes of other people, we see things so differently. We see we aren’t the center of the world, much less the universe, and that the things we think are so horrible in our life really aren’t that bad at all. Some people have it so much worse.”
“Someone is always going to have it worse…” Cal mused. “But that doesn’t invalidate our own feelings.”
“Oh, not at all. But it does put them in perspective.”
“How so?”
She sniffled again. “Here I was all upset, fuming even, that you wouldn’t answer my questions and that you wouldn’t explain this ridiculous situation that you put me in when you didn’t even really put me in it— it was my choice to come with you!—I could have said no, but I didn’t. And I didn’t want to and that’s not your fault.”
She threw her hands in front of her body pointing at Cal and then herself as she continued, “And I was angry at you for teasing me, I was even angrier at myself for enjoying it… And I was just working myself all up for what?” She exhaled slowly. “I can’t change the fact that I felt these things, or that the feelings were real and valid, but that’s not the important question. What we should be asking is: are those feelings worth it? ”
Cal shifted his weight and took a step closer to her. “What are you getting
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