GPLockwood
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2012
- Posts
- 895
Life had been good for John over the years. He lived in a nice home out in the country with a large yard and two friendly dogs, had a happy marriage with a nice woman, had plenty of great friends that genuinely cared about him, and had a job that he not only enjoyed, but that paid a decent salary without requiring too much overtime. John had gotten his doctorate of Physical Therapy from a local university, and was now a physical therapist at the regional hospital near the small town in which he had grown up.
Today, John’s usual work schedule had been interrupted by an annual meeting of everyone in the hospital that worked in any sort of supervisory role, during which they would be educated about the importance of the hospital’s equal employment policies. Since there were two physical therapy assistants that answered to John, he had been required to attend the annual training. It was basically a four hour lecture on hospital policy and common-sense practices that John, and pretty much everyone else there, had heard until they could repeat every word verbatim in their sleep. In other words, John’s attendance at this lecture was the last thing in the world that he would have expected to change his cozy little life.
Five years ago, when John had first gotten the job at the hospital, he had listened with some interest as the guest speaker droned through this annual lecture, which boiled down to not being a jackass towards women or minorities, and the proper procedures to take if someone else was being a jackass. Have you ever been in a lecture that takes information that could be conveyed in five minutes, but which is dragged out for hours? This was one of those lectures.
Most of John’s co-workers had brought books or clipboards full of paperwork that needed to be filled out anyway in order to occupy their time and attention. John had heard this speech several times already, and by now he could have given the speech himself. The hospital administration, of course, didn’t care. This was just a block that needed to be checked every year from their perspective, and as long as everyone attended the meeting, they could say that they had done their required training for the year and everyone was happy.
This year, barely an hour into the lecture, John had already caught up with all of the mandatory paperwork regarding his normal duties. Beside him, a pleasant, matronly head-nurse absently mouthed the key points of the lecture along with the speaker as she worked on her knitting. In the seat on the other side of John, one of the Doctors had brought his son’s pocket gaming device and was leading an Italian plumber on a series of unlikely adventures. The speaker’s monotone continued unabated, like some sort of strange monk from the world’s most boring religion.
John listened to the speaker for a few minutes. “… report the offending party’s offensive behavior on one of these forms to one’s direct supervisor, who will in turn, forward the incident report to human resources in Room 238,” the speaker intoned, “If one cannot report the offending behavior to one’s immediate supervisor, or if the supervisor is the offending party, please submit the form directly to human resources in Room 238. At this point, once human resources has received the paperwork, they will review the incident and determine what action is most appropriate for…” There were still almost three hours of this nonsense left. Someone two rows ahead of John was giggling and making tick-marks in the margins of a paper every time the speaker reminded his audience that human resources was in Room 238.
John sighed quietly, drawing a sympathetic, slightly conspiratorial smile from the head nurse beside him. “At least we only have to sit through this once a year,” she whispered as her nimble fingers worked the soft pink yarn with her aluminum knitting needles.
John reached into his pocket and pulled out his smart phone. He read a bit about the latest depressing world events from a news website, and then he checked in with the social media. Most of the comments he read were from friends working with him at the hospital, and many of them were making humorous statements about the importance of boring lectures. At this point, John could have done several things. Maybe he could have played an online game, or gone to the website of a peer-reviewed professional journal to catch up on the latest in evidence-based treatment modalities for various injuries. Maybe he could have read more news articles. Instead, for the first time in years, he decided to visit a chat room.
The first person that John was randomly connected to in the chat room was a man that immediately disconnected from John upon learning that John was a man. The next person was another guy that disconnected when John began entertaining himself by pretending that he only wanted to talk about how fascinating lectures on equal employment were. He chuckled as the chat room found another person to talk to.
The third person to whom John was connected was a woman who claimed to now be living in Virginia. Most people had never heard of John’s hometown, and he had no reason not to tell her where he was- after all, he wasn't in the chat room for anything inappropriate. But when John told her where he was from, the woman claimed to have gone to high-school there, and to have graduated two years behind John. Like him, she was now happily married. She was now a mother, and was just looking to waste a few minutes of time as she waited to get her license plates renewed. Like John, she hadn’t been to a chat room in years, but just felt like doing it at the moment just to waste a few minutes. But what really caught John’s attention was when she asked him if Camp Bramblewood was still open.
Camp Bramblewood. John had gone there every summer from the age of 12 until he was sixteen. It had always been the high-point of his year. There he had gotten to go canoeing, go swimming in the lake, fishing, and do all the hiking and horseback riding in the beautiful old hardwoods forest that anyone could have possibly wanted. It had been glorious, and all of John’s best friends had usually gone with him. He still kept in touch with a few of the people that he had gone to camp with- even though they were now all in their thirties. If this girl was close to John’s age and had gone to Camp Bramblewood, John probably knew her personally and would certainly remember her. The same kids had gone every year, and they had all gotten to know one another well.
Yes, John wrote, Camp Bramblewood was still open, and most of John’s friends that had stayed in the area were now sending their own kids there during the summer. As a matter of fact, every Spring, John’s friends usually roped him into helping to clear the network of trails and performing some routine maintenance work on the cabins and equipment. And, every year, going there brought back pleasant memories.
After John’s anonymous chat partner mentioned that she had gone to Camp Bramblewood as a kid and teenager, John smiled as he asked her what color hair she had. As long as it wasn’t black hair, the answer would likely give John a pretty good idea of which girl she was. She mentioned that she had red hair and blue eyes. John smiled. What were the odds? There were two girls that had gone there that met that description. One of them was a year older than John, and the other had been two years younger. Bingo! John knew exactly who she was, and she remembered him as well!
They excitedly caught up with one another in the major events that had transpired in their lives, and within minutes they had excitedly exchanged names and contact information. Both of them were thrilled to be in touch with an old friend, and John was the only person smiling broadly in the hospital’s meeting room.
Of course, John didn’t mention to his long-lost friend that she had, in fact, been
the first girl that he had ever had a serious crush on. Man, back in the day, he had it bad for her. Her mere presence had been intoxicating to him, but his teenaged shyness had kept him from breathing so much as a word to her about his feelings. And what would be the point of telling her now? Certainly he didn’t mention the impact that seeing her in her swimsuit at the lake had made upon him all those years ago. Now they were both happily married, and surely they both knew that nothing was going to happen. She might stop talking to him if he mentioned how her mere presence had made him feel back when they were both adolescents. But, at least twenty years ago, she had been an awesome human being on top of a gorgeous girl with a fun personality, and John was thrilled to be back in touch with her!
The minutes crawled by like hours after she finished up her work at the DMV and returned home, and then John's screen lit up as she contacted him again. They chatted back and forth for the rest of the lecture, sharing stories of old times and discussing how their lives had changed. It was as though the last 20 years didn't matter at all- they were hitting it off as though their lives had never skipped a beat.
For the first time in years, John was sorry when the annual lecture came to an end and he had to return to his regular duties. After promising to keep in touch with his old friend and saying goodbye, he signed out and slipped the phone back into his pocket. How cool was it to meet a friend that had disappeared off the face of the earth over twenty years ago? Was she still as awesome as John remembered? Taking a few minutes during his lunch break, he sent an e-mail to the address that she had provided, telling her how great it was to be back in touch with her again after all these years. Fate can play strange tricks, but John had no way to be prepared for the powerful impact that this improbable turn of events would have upon his pleasant and predictable life.
Today, John’s usual work schedule had been interrupted by an annual meeting of everyone in the hospital that worked in any sort of supervisory role, during which they would be educated about the importance of the hospital’s equal employment policies. Since there were two physical therapy assistants that answered to John, he had been required to attend the annual training. It was basically a four hour lecture on hospital policy and common-sense practices that John, and pretty much everyone else there, had heard until they could repeat every word verbatim in their sleep. In other words, John’s attendance at this lecture was the last thing in the world that he would have expected to change his cozy little life.
Five years ago, when John had first gotten the job at the hospital, he had listened with some interest as the guest speaker droned through this annual lecture, which boiled down to not being a jackass towards women or minorities, and the proper procedures to take if someone else was being a jackass. Have you ever been in a lecture that takes information that could be conveyed in five minutes, but which is dragged out for hours? This was one of those lectures.
Most of John’s co-workers had brought books or clipboards full of paperwork that needed to be filled out anyway in order to occupy their time and attention. John had heard this speech several times already, and by now he could have given the speech himself. The hospital administration, of course, didn’t care. This was just a block that needed to be checked every year from their perspective, and as long as everyone attended the meeting, they could say that they had done their required training for the year and everyone was happy.
This year, barely an hour into the lecture, John had already caught up with all of the mandatory paperwork regarding his normal duties. Beside him, a pleasant, matronly head-nurse absently mouthed the key points of the lecture along with the speaker as she worked on her knitting. In the seat on the other side of John, one of the Doctors had brought his son’s pocket gaming device and was leading an Italian plumber on a series of unlikely adventures. The speaker’s monotone continued unabated, like some sort of strange monk from the world’s most boring religion.
John listened to the speaker for a few minutes. “… report the offending party’s offensive behavior on one of these forms to one’s direct supervisor, who will in turn, forward the incident report to human resources in Room 238,” the speaker intoned, “If one cannot report the offending behavior to one’s immediate supervisor, or if the supervisor is the offending party, please submit the form directly to human resources in Room 238. At this point, once human resources has received the paperwork, they will review the incident and determine what action is most appropriate for…” There were still almost three hours of this nonsense left. Someone two rows ahead of John was giggling and making tick-marks in the margins of a paper every time the speaker reminded his audience that human resources was in Room 238.
John sighed quietly, drawing a sympathetic, slightly conspiratorial smile from the head nurse beside him. “At least we only have to sit through this once a year,” she whispered as her nimble fingers worked the soft pink yarn with her aluminum knitting needles.
John reached into his pocket and pulled out his smart phone. He read a bit about the latest depressing world events from a news website, and then he checked in with the social media. Most of the comments he read were from friends working with him at the hospital, and many of them were making humorous statements about the importance of boring lectures. At this point, John could have done several things. Maybe he could have played an online game, or gone to the website of a peer-reviewed professional journal to catch up on the latest in evidence-based treatment modalities for various injuries. Maybe he could have read more news articles. Instead, for the first time in years, he decided to visit a chat room.
The first person that John was randomly connected to in the chat room was a man that immediately disconnected from John upon learning that John was a man. The next person was another guy that disconnected when John began entertaining himself by pretending that he only wanted to talk about how fascinating lectures on equal employment were. He chuckled as the chat room found another person to talk to.
The third person to whom John was connected was a woman who claimed to now be living in Virginia. Most people had never heard of John’s hometown, and he had no reason not to tell her where he was- after all, he wasn't in the chat room for anything inappropriate. But when John told her where he was from, the woman claimed to have gone to high-school there, and to have graduated two years behind John. Like him, she was now happily married. She was now a mother, and was just looking to waste a few minutes of time as she waited to get her license plates renewed. Like John, she hadn’t been to a chat room in years, but just felt like doing it at the moment just to waste a few minutes. But what really caught John’s attention was when she asked him if Camp Bramblewood was still open.
Camp Bramblewood. John had gone there every summer from the age of 12 until he was sixteen. It had always been the high-point of his year. There he had gotten to go canoeing, go swimming in the lake, fishing, and do all the hiking and horseback riding in the beautiful old hardwoods forest that anyone could have possibly wanted. It had been glorious, and all of John’s best friends had usually gone with him. He still kept in touch with a few of the people that he had gone to camp with- even though they were now all in their thirties. If this girl was close to John’s age and had gone to Camp Bramblewood, John probably knew her personally and would certainly remember her. The same kids had gone every year, and they had all gotten to know one another well.
Yes, John wrote, Camp Bramblewood was still open, and most of John’s friends that had stayed in the area were now sending their own kids there during the summer. As a matter of fact, every Spring, John’s friends usually roped him into helping to clear the network of trails and performing some routine maintenance work on the cabins and equipment. And, every year, going there brought back pleasant memories.
After John’s anonymous chat partner mentioned that she had gone to Camp Bramblewood as a kid and teenager, John smiled as he asked her what color hair she had. As long as it wasn’t black hair, the answer would likely give John a pretty good idea of which girl she was. She mentioned that she had red hair and blue eyes. John smiled. What were the odds? There were two girls that had gone there that met that description. One of them was a year older than John, and the other had been two years younger. Bingo! John knew exactly who she was, and she remembered him as well!
They excitedly caught up with one another in the major events that had transpired in their lives, and within minutes they had excitedly exchanged names and contact information. Both of them were thrilled to be in touch with an old friend, and John was the only person smiling broadly in the hospital’s meeting room.
Of course, John didn’t mention to his long-lost friend that she had, in fact, been
the first girl that he had ever had a serious crush on. Man, back in the day, he had it bad for her. Her mere presence had been intoxicating to him, but his teenaged shyness had kept him from breathing so much as a word to her about his feelings. And what would be the point of telling her now? Certainly he didn’t mention the impact that seeing her in her swimsuit at the lake had made upon him all those years ago. Now they were both happily married, and surely they both knew that nothing was going to happen. She might stop talking to him if he mentioned how her mere presence had made him feel back when they were both adolescents. But, at least twenty years ago, she had been an awesome human being on top of a gorgeous girl with a fun personality, and John was thrilled to be back in touch with her!
The minutes crawled by like hours after she finished up her work at the DMV and returned home, and then John's screen lit up as she contacted him again. They chatted back and forth for the rest of the lecture, sharing stories of old times and discussing how their lives had changed. It was as though the last 20 years didn't matter at all- they were hitting it off as though their lives had never skipped a beat.
For the first time in years, John was sorry when the annual lecture came to an end and he had to return to his regular duties. After promising to keep in touch with his old friend and saying goodbye, he signed out and slipped the phone back into his pocket. How cool was it to meet a friend that had disappeared off the face of the earth over twenty years ago? Was she still as awesome as John remembered? Taking a few minutes during his lunch break, he sent an e-mail to the address that she had provided, telling her how great it was to be back in touch with her again after all these years. Fate can play strange tricks, but John had no way to be prepared for the powerful impact that this improbable turn of events would have upon his pleasant and predictable life.
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. So Saturday works for you then? That's great, it will give me something to do since my husband is taking our girls to a family thing with his dad, long story as to why I'm not going. Anyways I look forward to seeing you." 
