The Humidity's A Hair Over 40%, But What The Hell?

I went out to lunch with Tony and Suzanne the other day. We went to one of my favorite places down on Earth. I though I'd go with Earth instead of the Heaven counter part that day because the weather was particularly nice. We could have the same conditions up in Heaven of course, even better if we chose to. But sometimes, there's something about nice, genuine Earth weather that seems a little sweeter. It's the same as with anything on Earth: the things you earn are better than the things you're given. Maybe the weather is not your own accomplishment, but it seems all the more special.

It was the first time the three of us had hung out together in a while and it couldn't have come at a better time. In the past week, I'd dealt with a widower, a drug addict doing some serious jonesing and a rape victim (female angels usually handle those, but they were all booked up). It was an emotional draining week, I really needed some extra joy. I can't tell you how rewarding this job is, but there are times when sharing so much despair can get you down. Even dead, it's still good to have friends.

When I found out I'd made a mistake by shutting my friends out after my fiancee left, I was understandably despondent (especially the way I found out). Who knows, maybe I wouldn't be dead right now. But I am, I've learned from my mistakes, and the afterlife is going well (having what you want doesn't guarantee joy after all).

I feel ashamed of a lot of the things I said about Suzanne in the beginning. Thank god angels are forgiving.

Weather The Changes

I wonder sometimes if we're missing out on the human experience in Heaven. I was thinking about this the other day when I was on assignment down on earth. The weather was lousy for several days straight. You know, there are certain things about the human existence that make you realize there's a problem with the concept of destiny, the weather, being one of them. People often don't like the idea of having a predetermined fate, because it means, on a certain level, they're not in control. But there's your future, on tv, right there on the weather report. The man in the suit without the meteorology degree is telling you what your day will be like on Saturday, quite possibly dictating your likelihood of having a good day or not. He's telling you rain. Damn. Who the fuck is he to have that power? Well, not absolute power, you can have a good day on the rain. It's like with the dreams; there are no fates, only paths.

No such problems up in Heaven, perfect weather whenever I damn well feel like it. Is it making us soft? Do we need to hold on to the belabored conveniences to keep identifying with our assignment subjects? But what are we really losing? That which makes us human? Our irritability? Maybe we should lose that, or we have to. We're not human, we're angels. This is probably why we can deal with the animosity that plagues our subjects and why we can help them instead of giving in to it.

Or maybe the bottom line is, I've earned good weather. I'm fuckin dead.