Structural Isolation of the Guy In A Tent

I can handle the loneliness of being the guy living in a tent. I think I can. I do feel the impact of it, though.

It's the isolation from people that gets to me more. Just the absence of conversation. No watercooler conversations, no shop talk, none of the social lubrication that (I've learned) means so much.

People leave you alone. Generally I've considered that a kindness. Carried to a consistent ongoing policy, it leaves a void.

I am so grateful to the few folks that I have the privilege of calling friends, that I can drop in on for conversation - politics, conversation, the President. I wish I could be in the local book club, to have something to discuss and ruminate over, but it's women only.

The few people I speak with transactionally - checkout staff, or wait staff - they're working and doing their job, but their few extra words mean so much to me and I am grateful for their graciousness.