The Network

By Aetre

i'm home, honey, home at last. tell me how have you been? the kids? oh, okay, i'll be quiet and let them sleep, but there is so much to tell you.

oh these meetings they send me to, i don't know how much more i can stand. clients in singapore london czech republic and every other place the board can think to send me they send me, and i'm getting tired of it. but hey, six-figure salaries don't earn themselves... and now i'm home for two weeks, so i might as well make the most of it.

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how'd they go? oh the meetings went fine, just fine. i sealed the deals in london and singapore. it's pretty clear the rest don't have enough money to make things worthwhile, so they were a waste of time. i got to stay at some nice hotels, though. and in paris i saw the eiffel tower again. remember our honeymoon there?

yes, well... it's great to be back.

i really wonder why they even send me in the first place... we have enough technology, we could just send them the proposals electronically, give a video speech on the web. i don't know why i have to talk for an hour in front of people who couldn't care less about me and have already figured their total potential expenses and profits... why all the pomp and circumstance? when every bit of our era is defined by improvements in communication so that we don't have to travel the world to speak to people?

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honey... is everything alright?

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oh, i know this has been hard on us, but we're not the only ones. lots of people have to travel... come here, give me a kiss. we have two weeks together now.

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then it's boston. they have some papers for our company to look over. again, a formality. but i should be back in a couple days. remember, i'm doing this all for you. i'll call you when i'm there, just like i called you from every other city. it's amazing, the clarity on these new cell phones. and with the built-in camera and other gadgets i got installed... it's almost like you're right there with me and i'm right there with you...

it's almost like you're there next to me, and we're taking a vacation together...

almost.

though the text messaging feature seems kind of pointless to me... i really can't see the use in all these "netiquette" rules there are to follow, like, i can't use capital letters or that means i'm yelling. what's the deal with that, anyway? that's not how people really talk, is it? it makes the text blur together, in my opinion... kind of takes away from its meaning, makes it less than it really should be. but that's just my opinion.

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come on, it's late... we should both probably get to bed. i'm really thinking of quitting this job after boston, though... i just hope that finding a different job doesn't mean we have to move somewhere else.