To begin with, you should know they are cutting hours at my shitty day job. That’s the background. And you should probably know that there are three different people with the same first name as me. (That may not come as a surprise.)

My hours got cut more than most, but the truth is, I could use a breather. And I’d rather have an extra day off here and there than ten days shortened by some random amount. So… I didn’t question it right away. After all, they’re cutting everyone’s hours. It’s not all that unusual. It’s definitely not a crisis.

Who doesn’t enjoy an extra day off from time to time?

And then, well, Life.

And by pure coincidence, here’s a day off that I would actually have requested. Because stuff is happening.

Fast forward a page or two, and… uhm… that’s a whole lot of hours. Actually, it’s… becoming an obvious mistake.

Wait a minute. I HAVE SEEN THIS KIND OF MISTAKE BEFORE!!!

Oh, yes. That’s right. There are three of us with the same first name.

And so, that’s how I wound up talking to one of The Others.

Sure enough, she just put in for retirement. The powers that be gave me her retirement. And let’s all just be grateful that she’s planning on staying on for a few hours, or they probably would have separated me, entirely. She’s been waiting for the request to go through.

Oh, if only it were the first time something like that has happened.

Or the second…

Or…

Uhm…