“There is a life-sized bronze statue of Woody Allen in Spain. (fact)
Onion comes from a Latin word meaning large pearl. (fact)
There are more chickens than people in the world. (fact)
The models for Rodin’s The Kiss were his parents. (crap)
Venus spins in the opposite direction of all the planets. (fact)”
taken from cards for the game Fact or Crap, c. 2009 IMAGINATION GAMES
This was back in the early days of corporate therapy, back when “life coach” wasn’t considered a legitimate career. Ted was at a management seminar with his boss. God, he hated his boss. Even his kids hated his boss. And the gooey therapy lady at the conference made him fall backwards into his boss’s arms. An exercise in trust, she called it. Ted stopped himself with his back foot a few times, and he was ready to give up, but the therapy lady fluttered over and drew everyone’s attention his way. So he said to himself– I’ll do this thing –and he closed his eyes and fell back. Of course, his boss caught him, and flashed his yellow teeth and gleaming eyes. Applause. The lady gave Ted her business card. Him in particular, like he was some special case who couldn’t trust his own boss. And then his boss fired him, a month later, half a year shy of Ted’s pension guarantee.
Ted called the therapy lady and told her how he lost his job. She implied that his chronic lack of trust had probably contributed to the negative situation.
He said, “Would you trust a toothless hitchhiker in a surplus army coat?”
“I would if he were my high school sweetheart.”
“And what if he were just some random guy, down on his luck?”
“I’m sure he has a high school sweetheart somewhere.”
“Maybe not,” said Ted. “Maybe he killed her.”
She chuckled, but there was pity in it, he could hear it through the phone.
“You’re sure of yourself,” he said.
“You don’t trust anyone?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I trust my best friend, Jerry. But I don’t leave him alone with my wife.”
“That’s sad.”
“But it’s true.”