To mom

Reached one year at work, got a gold pin and a pat on the back and some small sense of accomplishment. She asked me if I wanted to tell you. I thought about it, y'know, when I first got that corporate email. I wanted so badly to say, "hey, ma, guess what" like any other normal son could. But then, for some reason, it almost felt like I was gloating somehow. Isn't that funny? You who hasn't been able to hold down a job since that downtown grease-bath. You who has been couch-hopping for three years. It didn't feel like something that would make you proud. It felt like all I was doing was rubbing your nose in it.