Today at work, I had ramen at Kintaro with a new co-worker who shares a similar lifestyle ... and love of bouncy castles.Amidst slurps of flavourful noodles and juicy smacks of scintilating vegetables done to al dante perfection, he spoke of his former "work wife".
"Work wife!" I exclaimed, honing in on a new GBS phrase,"Tell me what you mean by this."
"You know," he casually gestured, "the person you share stuff with at work – the stuff that's outside of work."
I really love the phrase "work wife" because it befits the bond. You definitely have familial bonds with certain co-workers that lack a proper definition — one that enriches your life, but doesn't transgress. Plus the term is so nouveau '50s...so innocent, yet so Norman Rockwell racy.
Let me define it agan... At work, you have people with whom you are close. With whom you share an emotional bond that transcends the 9-5 boundaries, but never leaves it. This is your "work husband" or "work wife". So work with me: embrace the term and the bond, but not the person.
I think I'm going to make this man my "work husband".
It lifts me up. I need work love...friends, faux husbands, bosses. It makes this capitalist world a more loving place.
p.s. Kintaro has the most amazing ramen in Vancouver. They massage the noodles, and this is good. The noodles are tender, flavourful, and full of love.
p.s.s. The work husband just sent me this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_wife
1 comment:
Yeah! I once had an 'intern-al affair' with an aspiring and tres talented writer/actor. I was interning at a writers festival and he was a dramaturge intern at a playwrite's centre upstairs from me. we discovered each other and i named us IA's.
we hung out at lunch time and talked about harper's articles and documentaries, and went to see ronnie burkett puppet shows and sat in seats that had been donated and named in honor of 'charlie' and 'lillian.'
our IA did take a stab at being 'more,' and sadly, all i could handle at the time was the enjoyment of the serendipitous magic - nothing more. my inner resources were in quiet neurosis at the time.
as i look back, it was a beautiful, random time. i'll always regret the way things ended with the irreverant, giving 'charlie,' this man who made me LAUGH, and gave me books that made my heart sing...i only hope he can recall that what i could offer at the time, if nothing more than a silly walk on a rainy day.
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