Thanks for the Day After

(sincere part) Happy belated Thanksgiving, friends and loved ones! 

(martyr part) I'm sorry I missed you yesterday, but the three-hour 50-mile drive home after my 60-hour four-day work week did me in. 

(Oscar-worthy faux tear-jerking part) When I got home, the house was cold and empty because my family is away, but I was got to talk on the phone with many loved ones before hitting the sack. 

(legitimately awesome part) I am thankful that I got fourteen hours of sleep, and can now parade around the house naked, eating a giant piece of pumpkin pie with my hands, and the new AC/DC album killing my eardrums from the stereo. 

No work today. Life is good. 

Alienation

Last night [Wife] and I were in a restaurant with [Daughter] and about thirty other kids.

[Wife] and I were safely established at the Parents Table talking all kinds of smack when we were invaded by a tearful teen with extreme feelings of alienation, which is of course a hallmark of being a teen.

Because I am helpful, I told her quietly that "As an adolescent, I often felt that I was on the outside looking in. And then some kind adult would always come along and tell me to get away from the girl's locker room door."

This inspired her to find a seat with her own kind, and I got that warm glow I always get when I help another human being.