Iced tea and some mild breakdowns

“I didn’t realize this iced tea would be sweet. I don’t like it sweet. Usually I order the unsweetened. If I would have known that I wouldn’t have ordered it.”My mother stirs the tall glass rapidly with her straw, as if this adds emphasis to her argument, if it even is an argument.

“Well, the description said peach. Usually peach teas tend to be a bit sweeter,”offers my aunt. This seems to be the most logical thing to say. My aunt cared enough to say it, I did not.

My mother takes a sip. “I guess it’s not that bad. Usually I order the unsweetened. I didn’t realize this was sweetened.”

Today, Friday, at approximately 12:45 p.m. at an Olive Garden in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania marks the most boring conversation I have ever heard, so far, in my life.

I sit in silence, occasionally drinking my wine. There is literally nothing I could say to add to the conversation to make it even remotely more interesting. So I don’t. And then, like clockwork, my mother then asks if I am in a bad mood.

I sat in a closed vehicle with my mother for over an hour this morning before I had had my coffee. I couldn’t speak, only utter a few words here and there so she knew I was still alive. Starbucks was closed. The Indian man at Dunkin' Donuts who handed me my coffee with an extra shot of espresso frowned and said too much caffeine is “bad for body.” I told him to fuck himself. That was a lie. I did not tell him to fuck himself, but I did smile shyly because that is what I do in such situations where I am not brazen enough to say go fuck yourself.

The limbo period after college life and before whatever "real world" is (though this may be one of the most universally overused terms for something that most people living in this supposed new realm still do not understand either), is a rough transition. Seriously, rough. Is anyone else having this problem? I swear I'm not usually this much of an asshole. I'm working on it.