The Girl Under the Skyway

Yes...that's the name of my new novel, about a matchbox-esque girl who exiles herself beneath the Minnesota skyway system because she doesn't fit in with our ubercoolness. Eventually, she doesn't get invited to the right party and freezes to death. It has nothing to do with the strange woman/perhaps-co-worker who was sitting on the isolated steps underneath our corporate skyway (in the burbs, not downtown - that would normal), curled up against the fire-escape door glass by the heavily-trafficked stairs that lead up to the skyway from my floor, looking sort of depressed. I noticed her as I was returning to my cube from lunch, and dropped off my notebook and wandered back across the skyway and outside, and back under the skyway (almost exercise) to see if she was o.k. She assured me she was, gave me a "dude you're crazy just because you haven't seen anyone sit here in eight years doesn't mean it doesn't happen all the time look, then immediately pulled out a tiny Bible and began reading. I'm of the opinion that most Christians are probably loathe to kill themselves while physically reading the Bible, so I meandered back to work, wondering if perhaps she had a boyfriend/husband who had instructed her to wait for him on the steps, where he could visibly check on her now and then, and study her theology. Some Charles Mansony Christ type. Although the only person I know who fits the bill left the company quite a while ago. I wonder if there are random women reading the Bible on the steps of his Christ-centered employer. If he had known that was an employment perk, he might have stuck around.

On another note, I saw a posted request in the main cafeteria today that there be more toothpick drops in the cafeterias. I'm wondering if this was requested by someone else who saw the guy sticking both fingers up his nose before swooshing the toothpicks around and grabbing one. More toothpick makes for a better boogy-to-toothpick ratio.