{"id":14102,"date":"2011-02-13T08:03:46","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T15:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=14102"},"modified":"2011-02-13T08:03:50","modified_gmt":"2011-02-13T15:03:50","slug":"time-and-a-vector-these-are-the-back-stories-of-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/14102\/time-and-a-vector-these-are-the-back-stories-of-our-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Time and a vector — these are the back-stories of our lives…"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an extract from the novella I wrote at Christmas:<\/p>\n

 
Christmas — the back-story.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The name of the game is back-story.” I said that. I was sitting with Tigan and Chance at the food court at the Paradise Valley Mall. “The objective is to pick out people in the crowd, then come up with a plausible back-story for them.”<\/p>\n

“Why?” Chance asked.<\/p>\n

“Because it’s fun, mostly. But you can learn a lot about people if you think about how they got to where they are.”<\/p>\n

We had been shopping, the three of us. I sent them off on their own to get gifts for their parents while I shopped alone for gifts for them. I had sent Adora off on an errand in the car, and we had all agreed to converge on the food court when we finished.<\/p>\n

“Look at her,” I said, pointing to a chunky woman in scrubs barreling past us. “What’s her story?”<\/p>\n

“Well,” Tigan said, “She’s a nurse.”<\/p>\n

“Duh!” Chance said that.<\/p>\n

“Why is she walking so fast?” I asked.<\/p>\n

“Dood! It’s Christmas Eve!”<\/p>\n

“Okay, I’ll give you that. Married or unmarried?”<\/p>\n

“How could you know that?” Tigan asked.<\/p>\n

“You can’t know, but you can guess. My guess would be unmarried. Kids or no kids?”<\/p>\n

Chance scowled, glowered almost, but Tigan said, “…She has kids.”<\/p>\n

“How do you know?”<\/p>\n

“She came here straight from work. If she were unmarried with no kids, she would have changed clothes first. And brushed her hair and put on some make-up. Ms. Unmarried Nurse is available and wouldn’t waste an opportunity. Mrs. Married Nurse would have her husband and kids with her. Mrs. Single Working Mother has too much on her plate to worry about any of that.”<\/p>\n

I said, “I like that story. So where are the kids? Home alone? Grandma’s house?”<\/p>\n

“They’re with their father!” Chance enthused.<\/p>\n

“I read it that way, too. Dad has the kids for Christmas Eve, and mom is rushing to get ready for Christmas Day. What do we actually know? Only what we can see — her person, her face, her clothes and the way she holds and moves her body. But we can draw some very strong inferences from those Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an extract from the novella I wrote at Christmas:  Christmas — the back-story. “The name of the game is back-story.” I said that. I was sitting with Tigan and Chance at the food court at the Paradise Valley Mall. “The objective is to pick out people in the crowd, then come up with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,212,29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-egoism-in-action","7":"category-flourishing","8":"category-group-therapy","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2417,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2417\/gifts-of-the-real-estate-magi-circa-2007\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":0},"title":"Gifts of the Real Estate Magi, circa 2007","author":"Cathleen Collins","date":"December 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Thank you, Russell, for the gold you so generously share. 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I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10577,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10577\/christmas-and-natasha-only-in-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":3},"title":"Christmas and Natasha – only in America","author":"Eric Blackwell","date":"December 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"2009 has changed me. It has been a year of struggle, victory, and in the end... of complete thankfulness for all of the good things that I have in life. Living in America is one of those good things. Living with a family that loves me unconditionally is another. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":805,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/805\/christmas-story-a-canticle-for-kathleen-sullivan\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":4},"title":"Christmas story: A canticle for Kathleen Sullivan","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A canticle for Kathleen Sullivan A Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie story I got to the hospital after visiting hours, but the nurse led me to the room anyway. \"There hasn't been anyone,\" she confided. I pursed my lips in grim acknowledgement. \"That's why I'm here.\" Inside the room the patient looked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13836,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13836\/best-christmas-viral-video-of-2010\/","url_meta":{"origin":14102,"position":5},"title":"Best Christmas Viral Video of 2010…","author":"Eric Blackwell","date":"December 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Super busy, but wanted to share...What the Nativity Story might have looked like in today's internet \/ Google \/ social media world... 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