Skylar worked in Santa Barbara as a consultant for a hospital for over a year and when we were in town last week Mr. No One Will Even Remember Me So We Probably Shouldn't Stop By was finally coerced by a doctor with whom he has stayed in contact to go to the hospital and say hello to people.

It was absolutely no surprise to me when the entire place basically gave him a standing ovation and then carried him around like Jesus with the donkeys and the parade into Jerusalem and elephants and stuff.

I may have combined the Bible with Aladdin. Don't @ me. I haven't been to church since Jasmine escaped the palace and turned water into sauvignon blanc.

Skylar has this way of making everyone he meets feel like they are the most important person in his life, which is usually really lovely but sometimes it causes problems because the person he rode a bus with once can't believe she isn't invited to his wedding.

He's totally sincere about it, too. While we were chatting with his adoring fans/former coworkers I remembered this one time a year or two ago when he was on a call with some man with whom he worked. When they finished discussing their business I heard Skylar say, "Ok, Brad. Thanks for chatting with me. Talk to you later. I love you. Bye."

When he hung up I laughed and yelled "OMG ARE YOU SO EMBARRASSED?" Skylar didn't know what I was talking about so I said, "you accidentally ended that call by saying 'I love you' to that guy!"


Skylar looked mortally wounded and said in a completely sincere voice, "I do love him."

I found out that he was ending calls this way on purpose. And he was getting away with it in a way that you and I could not.

I accidentally said "I love you" at the end of a call with opposing counsel several years ago and I nearly moved because of this. I spent the rest of the week obsessing over whether or not he had heard me and processed my slip up. We were both sort of saying the goodbye formalities at the same time and "I love you" was thrown into the middle of all of the "I'll talk to you laters" and "have a nice days."

I see that attorney every few months and I'm constantly wondering if he is thinking about the time I expressed my undying love for him.

Skylar wouldn't have had that problem. He would have just owned it. And then the next time he saw that attorney he would have been tossed onto the back of cattle and guided through the Gates of Damascus.

Not even Skylar could have recovered from the time last year when I accidentally called a judge during a court hearing "dad."

I don't even want to get into whatever issues that probably means I have.

The point is, I've been thinking about times I used the wrong word or phrase or title in professional settings. A long time ago I asked you to share your word blunders and they were amazing. Now I want to hear more, particularly if you have any from your jobs. GO.

He does love you.


~It Just Gets Stranger