Dawn's Digression.

Dinner with Alex went pretty well last night. I think I was the coolest big sister ever. The kid disclosed a lot of information to me, and seemed genuinely interested in my advice. Can you believe it? Someone wants my advice? Well, I do have a good 11 years on the kid. I suppose that counts for something. I covered all the basics: crazy girls, credit cards, birth control, the first few weeks of loneliness, and birth control. I answered all kinds of questions. It was fun. He was asking me at what point people take you seriously. I told him I'm hoping to be taken seriously at 30. I don't think Alex thought that was funny. He mentioned he was afraid he would mess things up. I told him everyone messes things up and it is how you recover from them that matters. When we were leaving, I said, "Alright. So. We have: No credit cards. (If you want to build credit get ONE card and do not carry it with you, and use it to buy a pack of socks or something and then pay it off.) Don't get girls knocked up. Birth control. Don't fuck anything up, but when you do call me. I won't tell Mom and Dad."

What do you think? Not too bad.

The kid was really nice. We were talking about how women are crazy. We were talking about Michele and I and how I show less affection around Mom and Dad. He told me not to ever worry about it around him because it doesn't bother him. I think we both had a nice time. When I was backing out of the parking lot I saw him looking at me and smiling. My guess is that it's nice to have someone a bit older than you that you can really say stuff to. I know I would have liked that, too.