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call #25

"howdy ho."

"oh, god. please never say howdy ho again."

"i thought it was creative," he says dully.

"all it did was remind me of the song cotton eye joe."

he laughs. "then i definitely won't say it ever again. i hope i haven't emotionally scarred you too much."

"i'm having war flashbacks from elementary school."

"cotton eye joe, touchy subject. got it." he laughs. "how are you doing on this fine evening?"

"great! i actually went to dinner with some friends, which is kind of unusual for me. i don't leave the house as often as i'd like."

"that's exciting. where'd you eat?"

she pauses. "rainforest cafe. don't judge us."

he tries to hold back his laughter but fails. "the children's restaurant?"

"you're never too old for some fun and gorillas."

"so let me get this straight. you get a break from watching your niece and you decide to spend that break in a children's restaurant?"

"what'd you do tonight then, geezer?"

he scoffs, offended. "i am twenty-three years old. i am not a geezer. i watched the democratic national convention and cried over bernie sanders."

"you cried?"

"he's a passionate dude. it makes me emotional. any sane person would cry watching him speak."

"so while i was feeding pennies to a robotic crocodile, you were crying over bernie sanders?"

he laughs. "sounds like it."

"well. i think we've got our priorities straight."

"bernie sanders and kid's restaurants. we make a great team."