Ever since he started working here (which is years ago at this point,
although I can't tell you exactly how many years it has been) I half
jokingly decided that Frank W. was my arch nemesis on account of the
"fact" that he went to
ASU, the arch rival
of the
U of A.
Given that Arizona State (as in the state which is Arizona, not ASU) is
identical to Arizona (as in the state which is Arizona, not the U of A),
since there is no other subdivision like Arizona City (
a la New York
City), it s kind of a silly rivalry.
If an alien presence were to visit the state of Arizona he might
conclude that the rivalry is based on the ordering of words.
Today when I got out of my car, I realized that I had left my badge in my
other pants, and was about to give one of my co-workers a call when I
saw two people in the parking lot. One of them was that cute Indian woman
who I'd like to get to know better, and the other was my arch Nemesis Frank W.
I asked if they could let me in. People at work don't even answer that
question. Security is so lax that you can assume the answer is yes.
Walking in, we started talking about snow, and then skiing and then...
Brief intermission here: it is so obvious that this conversation arc was
going to lead to my proclamation about how much better the snow, and
therefore the skiing is in the southwest. I just can't help myself.
Every time I start talking about snow or skiing with someone I just
have
to tell them what they are missing (if they are missing it) or commiserate
with them if they know what they are missing by living on this quarter of
the country. Why do I do that?
...I tell them about how I am used to the white fluffy
snow we have
in the southwest, as apposed to the awful icy crap that they have around
here. Frank tells me that he went to school in Arizona (which I already
knew), and I say: "So did I." He asks me where, I tell him, and then he
told me that he went to
NAU.
All the while I am being coy, pretending that I don't know. Only I
didn't know. I always thought he went to ASU, and now it turns out he
went to NAU and that means he can't be my arch-nemesis anymore! As
arch-nemeses
[1] go, he was
benign. Though I realize by definition, one's arch-nemesis is not supposed
to be benign.
When I was in grade school, my arch-nemesis was Brad Green, and he was a
good arch nemesis, because we used to get into fights. I can't remember
exactly what they were about. In high school, my arch-nemesis was Bird
Boy. He nominated himself president and founder of the GTO haters club
(GTO being my initials). As such, he was more of a thorn in my side that
I really great arch-nemesis. I don't think I had an arch-nemesis in college.
Tyler: If you are reading this, can you remember if I had one?
Now I need a new arch-nemesis. I will be accepting applications
immediately.
[
1]
Apparently this is the plural of nemesis.
