I don’t think I can take this anymore
Will I get fired if I just reach over and slap her?
I wonder if I have any ice cream at home
I like blue

Pam’s inner dialogue continued as the women in front of her just kept talking.

The conversation had started innocently. The women had approached the hotel’s front desk and Pam had greeted her with a well practiced smile.

“Good Morning. May I help you?”

That’s when it happened. The phrase “May I help you” was once again interpreted as “tell me your entire life story and don’t leave out anything”.

Pam snapped. No longer able to cope with information about this women’s daughter’s friend’s grandson or what kind of dogs the lady in the flowered shirt liked. As an old man chimed in with his recollection of city twenty-five years ago, Pam became disassociated with reality. Nural connections severed. Her gaze fixed at some point in the distance.

Her mind had retreated to a happier place.
Pam was gone but the smile on her face remained.