I used to work at BTA with this girl named Trixie. She very cool in many, many ways, but one of the coolest things about her was the way she'd always mix metaphors and cliches.

"How would you feel if the shoe was on the other side of the fence?" she asked me once.

"Huh?" I said, momentarily taken aback. Of course I knew what she meant, but she'd expressed it so oddly that for a split second I wasn't sure how to respond.

"How would you feel if the shoe was on the other side of the fence?" she repeated.

"Oh, right," I said," and answered her question, whatever it was.

Another time I complimented her new glasses and she said, "Oh, thanks. I'm blind as a brick without them."

I loved this about her. She clearly didn't know what she was doing, and I didn't have the heart to point it out to her. I mean, really. It wasn't hurting anything.
I actually thought it was quite charming.

We worked together for two years, and then I quit BTA and started working for a new company. At this company I'm surrounded by investment bankers. They're nice mostly, but they all seem so serious and driven and money-minded. Dull as beans, if you will.

Later I found out that Trixie also left BTA. I called her to catch up and see how she liked her new job.

"Eh, it's not that great," she said. "There are some things I miss about BTA."

"Yeah, me too," I admitted. "Who would have ever thought we'd say that?"

"Well," she said. "You know what they say, 'The grass is always greener at the other end of the tunnel.'"