I was at that stupid town hall meeting last night, the one about the new development, and honestly I barely wanted to go. It’s always the same people, right, yelling about the same stuff and nothing ever changes anyway but you gotta show up for appearances, I guess. So I’m there, slumped in the back, thinking about how many hours I gotta put in this week to make rent and if I can swing that thing for the kids, and then I see her. You know, someone. Someone who used to be like, A BIG DEAL in this place. Like she ran everything, spoke at all the events, got things done. And she’s sitting up front, kinda hunched over, and during the Q&A she keeps raising her hand. Like, really trying. Arm straight up, almost shaking. And the moderator, some young dude, keeps looking right past her. Over her head, around her, like she’s not even there. It happened maybe three, four times. And I dunno, it kinda hit me. Like, how do you go from being THAT person, the one everyone listens to, to just… invisible? To having your hand in the air like a kid in school and no one even bats an eye. I mean, it’s not like she’s got nothing to say, she used to run a whole department. She probably knows more about this town than anyone in that room. And I just kept watching it happen, her hand going up, her face kinda falling a little each time, and I felt… something. Not sad, exactly. Not mad. Just… flat. Like looking into a mirror you didn’t ask for. Because sometimes I feel like that, you know? Like I’m doing all the stuff, juggling all the things, trying to keep my head above water and sometimes I wonder if anyone even sees it. If I stopped, if I just dropped everything, would anyone even notice? Or would I just become someone else with their hand in the air, waiting for a chance that never comes? It’s a real kick in the teeth, that feeling. And I gotta get up in like four hours and do it all again. It’s just… yeah. That.