REI

Shane saw me rubbing my wrist and said, “RMI?” I drew a blank. “Repetitive motion injury.  I’ll bet you use a laptop.”

“I’ve been using mine at home at night,” I said.

“If you use the same muscles over and over again, especially at an odd angle, something little like typing or scrolling can injure them.”

“Have you had an RMI?” I asked.

Shane laughed. “No, but I have repetitive emotion injury. I’m always trying to twist my life to make my girlfriend happy.  Mostly it’s little things like watching her TV shows, or listening without being listened to.  It wears me down.”

“Why do stay with her?” Co asked.

I answered for him. “The pain hasn’t gotten bad enough.  People build up a tolerance for emotional pain the way they build up a tolerance for drugs.” I looked directly at Shane. “I waited until my whole life hurt before I quit drinking,” I said. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Today I won’t wait for the pain to get worse.

Jury Duty © 2020 by Ken Montrose

Jury Duty is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/