"I live alone," I said, whimsically, "So it feels tough sometimes to get through the days."
I wasn't looking for sympathy on the VCB* - I honestly wasn't - but the conversation had taken me there. I'd asked someone (very conversationally I thought) whether they miss travelling (they're in presales), and they'd told me they sort of did, and then they'd said: "Why do you ask, Matt?"
A conversation had then unfolded about missing the commute, breaking up the day with a nice walk, switching off at 5:30pm and demarcating the day into 'work' and 'family' time. And hence I ending up telling them about my 'single' life, where that demarcation might be harder to find, and how I needed to be more deliberate to keep myself sane.
It's not really as impoverished as it sounds though, this life. I do actually speak to people every day, and I honestly haven't felt lonely for months. I have what my colleagues might describe as an unnaturally large number of great friends out there, and I am grateful for every one of them. Straight up.
It was with a sense of irony then, that a few moments later I bruised my little finger while air-drumming to Phil Collins's In The Air Tonight karaoke version.
Perhaps a well-balanced mind would not have gone there, but there I was anyway, pretending to be at Wembley: eyes closed, invisible sticks pounding the imaginary toms for that famous fill, followed by a very real whimper as my little finger struck the desk.
"I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life," warbled the track, obliviously. You can keep the moment, Phil. It really hurt. I shook my hand in the air for a bit, as you do. I've never known why.
I wondered what my colleagues would have made of that display. I flushed, imagining I'd left my webcam on and was still somehow connected to the VCB chat, but of course, everyone had already left to do more important work. My camera was off. Thank the Lord.
I wonder though: am I really okay? Is this normal behaviour? Should I be worried about my 'state of mind' like the VCBers were asking? I mean it's not like I'm sitting here wearing a tin-foil hat, dipping bananas in marmalade - it was just a bit of karaoke, just a nice bit of classic Phil!
The thing is, next time someone asks me what I did to my little finger, I might have to be concise with the story and hope they don't ask me any questions. Oh Lord.
*Virtual Coffee Break
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