but he belongs to me like lost baggage

About two years ago I drunkenly emailed a friend from uni who I hadn’t seen in several years. As you do. It was (thankfully) short and sweet and I wrote it in cahoots with another (equally drunken) friend. And, as you do, I immediately forgot all about the fact that I had sent it.

… Nearly two years to the day (and about a month ago) I got an email from Dan (the recipient of my slushly scribing). He’s finished his dissertation and rejoined the land of drunken emailing and so took the time to respond [Note: if this sounds at all snide it absolutely isn’t meant to]. I haven’t yet written back. But I think that’s allowed. Right? You know – a year to give a wedding gift (never mind I am well into Year 2 for at least one friend) and a reciprocal amount of time to pen a response to a response … or something. It’s a rule. I’m sure of it. Even if I did just make it up.

So anyway. The gist of the email from Dan is that he’s coming to pretty England in August (which is … er … now). So what happens to the rule?! Do I write to him before the weekend then? (it’s OK he’s in touch with Brian too, so I won’t miss him if I can’t pull it together.) But does a transatlantic trip negate the equal response time rule?

Whatever the etiquette, I am immensely looking forward to seeing Dan (or “Real Dan” as he was known among my uni flatmates. He was in one of my comparative lit courses along with another Dan, who my flatmates and I called “Innocuous Dan.” So this Dan was either “Real Dan” (if clarification was called for) or simply (and most usually) “Dan”.

So beware your drunk-dialing and typing! Even if you think it’s long gone without consequences… it can spring itself upon you most unexpectedly. Happily, sometimes that’s even good news.

** I'd love to give you a link to the complete poem alluded to in the title, but alas I cannot find it except for this instance on a Spanish speaker's blog (with a few minor transcription/spelling errors). But nonetheless, with my thanks to Ms Sexton and Clara the blogger. **