An Unexpected Week

This week did not end like it began...and it's only Thursday.

Monday morning I got a phone call from an autistic girl I'd met through my former upstairs neighbor.  Evan, an extremely shy (and also high functioning autistic) person with a sociology degree, needed a place to stay.  He'd moved out to live with the girl and her parents, but it didn't work out since he couldn't handle her mother's cigarrette smoke.  The girl was trying to find another place for him, in her typical panicked state.  I'd given her my number casually during a previous conversation, so she called me.

I was caught off guard, I really didn't expect either of them to contact me again, especially since he'd moved out, but agreed to meet with him and talk through his situation.  I asked the important questions, income, habits, etc... and as I'd already met his parents (very nice engineer types) and the upstairs resident commented he was a good kid, I agreed to bring him in on a temporary basis until he found a permanent solution.  He plans to move in with the autistic girl in a new apartment, as her CPA (certified personal assistant), and is currently helping her get her psychology degree at North Shore Community College. 

There are other details not appropriate to list on the internet, but let's just say it's not a typical situation.  I had 120 reasons that this was a bad idea... where were his other friends?  What about staying with his parents in Lawrence?  I was flying to West Virginia for an interview the NEXT DAY...so the timing wasn't exactly ideal and if he wanted to empty my apartment he'd have plenty of opportunity.  Besides, I'd really only met him a couple times. And with everything else going on, do I really need another bad roommate?  I don't exactly have the best track record. 

But I had a gut feeling.  And that's all I had.  Just a feeling.  On paper this is an unnecessary risk.  Mom yelled at me for being stupid.  My coworker said I was crazy.  Jeff did the best thing... he laughed at the absurdity of it.  He suggested I'm flipping the world the bird because I'm tired of dealing with job/family issues.  He's got a point.  But it felt ok... so I agreed.  The autistic girl was overly appreciative and extremely relieved.  She shook my hand repeatedly, which I asked about.  She said, "Oh, I used to hug everyone, but my mom said it was better to shake hands to thank people."  Ah, that makes perfect sense.  I gave her a hug.  At 9am I was living my normal life... at 6pm I had a roommate.

I told Evan that he should keep looking for a permanent solution to the housing gig, since I might be moving to WV in the near future... but frankly the interview didn't go that well... and after a lousy interview, a delayed flight home, losing my credit card inside the parking meter pay kiosk at Logan (THAT is a story... I put it in the cash slot, not realizing you need to put your card in the same slot you just put your parking ticket... why would I think that??  Since there was no signage, I put it in the cash slot - the slot with a freakin blinking arrow pointing at it... I should have taken the hint that it was pretty damn hard to squish in there...), I got home, and Evan left a pork chop dinner waiting for me in the microwave, had texted me to see if he should fill the cats' empty food dish, and even cleaned the bathroom sink. 

I gotta say, there's something really nice about having another person in the house.  Someone to just be there to deter theft and housesit... but it's only been a couple days, and already I'm grateful for his thoughtfulness... small kindnesses are a welcome change to the hard-edged community I've been working and living in, to the constant insecurity that my life isn't going in the right (or any) direction.  I hope this isn't a bad decision... guts have been known to be wrong before... But I've been hoping for something to shake me out of my 5-year rut, and frankly I've been lonely.  I really hope this young college grad is just a nice kid who needs a lift, just getting started, flexible, honest, with a hopeful view that good change can happen... and won't kill me in my sleep.  :)