Reflection Road
Feb 19, 2023 4:24:12 GMT -5
Post by OrochiGeese on Feb 19, 2023 4:24:12 GMT -5
*The camera turns on and we are inside of what looks like a large town car. Robin Walker is sitting in the back seat with her legs crossed and a nervous look on her face. She’s wearing a black shirt with an OG-Joshi logo and a pair of old jeans.*
[Robin:] “Kathy, it’s been a month since you responded to my - let’s just call it what it was - outburst. I know it’s rude to make a lady wait but I had a good reason. Jean Carter always says to wait a week to respond when someone you respect makes you angry. I should have done that before I took everything from the past 13 years out on you last month. But after you apologized, I still had some anger lingering from the previous exchange. So I waited and then a funny thing happened: The anger faded and turned into this uncomfortable feeling. For once, I, Robin Walker, was speechless.
See, no opponent has ever apologized to me like you did. I have called people just about every dirty word in the book, made every heinous allegation, and had the same disrespect deservingly turned back onto me. But not once has any one actually given a damn that they offended me and pumped the brakes before things got uglier.”
*The car suddenly slows down and Robin face palms.*
[Robin:] “No, no, not you, I’m filming something. Keep going.”
*Robin uncomfortably laughs and looks back at the screen.*
[Robin:] “No one has ever cooled the temperature when they saw me rise to my hottest. And I simply had no idea how to respond. Not once has anyone explained the reasons for what they said, reasons that actually made sense, and showed empathy. I was taken more off guard by your apology than by anything that has ever occurred to me in my career.
And so the more time that went by, the higher the stakes of my reaction felt. Geese kept telling me to say something already if it was bothering me so much. I told him I wanted to get this perfect. He that 'the perfect was the enemy of the good' and that if I wanted to make this better, drawing it out too long would make it irreparably worse.
So here I am, still searching for the perfect words to express how your apology felt. But let's give it a try.
It felt good. I guess I covered that already. But I mean, it really felt good. I’ve had a general sense of my role in your career but I don’t think I truly understood its significance until now. I don’t say this very often, but I feel humbled. That’s another reason this all feels uncomfortable. I’ve never, ever, wrestled someone who respects me as much as you do. Everyone else has either been indifferent toward me or wanted to avenge something I did to them. So not only did you feel like the wrong person I should have lashed out at, and for the wrong reasons, but I also felt like maybe I didn’t deserve the respect you have for me. I felt embarrassed that I may have lost it by reacting to you the way that I did.”
*Robin reaches for a bottle of water next to her and takes a long sip.*
[Robin:] “I have watched your message a lot. I wanted to say that I understood your reasons for calling me out, but I actually didn’t at first. That’s because every time I have criticized my opponents, it wasn’t to make them better. It was to break them and make them weaker. I wanted to poke holes in their self-esteem so beating them would be easier. I pushed people’s buttons to provoke an emotional response so they would forget their strategy and make mistakes.
I was never about the purity of competition – I was about winning, feeding my ego, and pissing people off. The idea that a criticism could ever make someone better was the furthest from my mind and the last thing I would ever wanted. That’s why I reacted the way I did to you. I just assumed you were attacking me with the same intentions I would have attacked someone else with, and the button you pushed was raw based on everything I had gone through.
So...I’m sorry for that. I’m also sorry for what you and William have gone through. I've been where you are. I know the only thing worse than being targeted has been watching people taking pleasure in Geese’s pain over my injuries. I know that being put in a coma was nothing compared to Geese having to watch that, or that what Ruby and Rivers did to Geese wasn't as bad as me having to watch it.
*In the background, we can hear the car radio listing off stock results and Robin grimaces.*
[Robin:] “I’m not naïve – I know people can’t truly ‘start over’ as much as they’d like to. However, I think you and I have learned a lot about each other in the past two months and I propose we put it to good use.
I think we can expect the best out of each other now instead of assuming the worst. And that means a little button pushing, especially in certain places *winks*, could be fun. So I suggest we march right past this pile of jagged emotional eggshells that 'O-Robin Goose' dropped and go back to having some fun with each other. We could push buttons or just upgrade to a 'touch u' screen.
And I want to show I’m serious by proposing this idea. Jean said she would schedule a match with you and my chosen opponent on a show we’re calling ‘Spring Fling.’ Sounds appropriate, huh? Well, we both know I’m going to be in attendance watching the match. And I figure it would be hypocritical for me to get angry at you for saying that I should wrestle more, then pass up an actual opportunity to do so since I'll be there. Since I’m picking an opponent for you, how about you put that head to work as well? And not just to ease King back to sleep after one of his nightmares. Warm milk works for me, provided Geese is awake.”
*The driver skids a little and Robin laughs*
[Robin:] “So Kath - I get you off with a mystery opponent and you do the same for me. Sound good? I get another match in the tank before wrestling you at the 20th OG-FPD Anniversary and you get to watch your role model in action?
Meanwhile, I’m going to make sure that my choice is up to the task of facing you. Even though my original reasons for picking her to face you did treat her like a lost cause, maybe she isn't one. A lot of people thought that about me, after all. Twenty years ago, they never would have imagined me apologizing to someone else’s apology. If Figaro was here, he’d probably tearfully quote Rocky’s “If I could change” speech. But I think you and I have done enough talking for now. It’s time for action and I have someone to retrain since her idea of action needs a whole lotta rehabilitation.”
*The car slows down in front of a building. The sign says “Central Domiciliary Condominiums" on the front. Robin winks at the camera, pays the driver, and exits the vehicle as the camera turns off.*
[Robin:] “Kathy, it’s been a month since you responded to my - let’s just call it what it was - outburst. I know it’s rude to make a lady wait but I had a good reason. Jean Carter always says to wait a week to respond when someone you respect makes you angry. I should have done that before I took everything from the past 13 years out on you last month. But after you apologized, I still had some anger lingering from the previous exchange. So I waited and then a funny thing happened: The anger faded and turned into this uncomfortable feeling. For once, I, Robin Walker, was speechless.
See, no opponent has ever apologized to me like you did. I have called people just about every dirty word in the book, made every heinous allegation, and had the same disrespect deservingly turned back onto me. But not once has any one actually given a damn that they offended me and pumped the brakes before things got uglier.”
*The car suddenly slows down and Robin face palms.*
[Robin:] “No, no, not you, I’m filming something. Keep going.”
*Robin uncomfortably laughs and looks back at the screen.*
[Robin:] “No one has ever cooled the temperature when they saw me rise to my hottest. And I simply had no idea how to respond. Not once has anyone explained the reasons for what they said, reasons that actually made sense, and showed empathy. I was taken more off guard by your apology than by anything that has ever occurred to me in my career.
And so the more time that went by, the higher the stakes of my reaction felt. Geese kept telling me to say something already if it was bothering me so much. I told him I wanted to get this perfect. He that 'the perfect was the enemy of the good' and that if I wanted to make this better, drawing it out too long would make it irreparably worse.
So here I am, still searching for the perfect words to express how your apology felt. But let's give it a try.
It felt good. I guess I covered that already. But I mean, it really felt good. I’ve had a general sense of my role in your career but I don’t think I truly understood its significance until now. I don’t say this very often, but I feel humbled. That’s another reason this all feels uncomfortable. I’ve never, ever, wrestled someone who respects me as much as you do. Everyone else has either been indifferent toward me or wanted to avenge something I did to them. So not only did you feel like the wrong person I should have lashed out at, and for the wrong reasons, but I also felt like maybe I didn’t deserve the respect you have for me. I felt embarrassed that I may have lost it by reacting to you the way that I did.”
*Robin reaches for a bottle of water next to her and takes a long sip.*
[Robin:] “I have watched your message a lot. I wanted to say that I understood your reasons for calling me out, but I actually didn’t at first. That’s because every time I have criticized my opponents, it wasn’t to make them better. It was to break them and make them weaker. I wanted to poke holes in their self-esteem so beating them would be easier. I pushed people’s buttons to provoke an emotional response so they would forget their strategy and make mistakes.
I was never about the purity of competition – I was about winning, feeding my ego, and pissing people off. The idea that a criticism could ever make someone better was the furthest from my mind and the last thing I would ever wanted. That’s why I reacted the way I did to you. I just assumed you were attacking me with the same intentions I would have attacked someone else with, and the button you pushed was raw based on everything I had gone through.
So...I’m sorry for that. I’m also sorry for what you and William have gone through. I've been where you are. I know the only thing worse than being targeted has been watching people taking pleasure in Geese’s pain over my injuries. I know that being put in a coma was nothing compared to Geese having to watch that, or that what Ruby and Rivers did to Geese wasn't as bad as me having to watch it.
*In the background, we can hear the car radio listing off stock results and Robin grimaces.*
[Robin:] “I’m not naïve – I know people can’t truly ‘start over’ as much as they’d like to. However, I think you and I have learned a lot about each other in the past two months and I propose we put it to good use.
I think we can expect the best out of each other now instead of assuming the worst. And that means a little button pushing, especially in certain places *winks*, could be fun. So I suggest we march right past this pile of jagged emotional eggshells that 'O-Robin Goose' dropped and go back to having some fun with each other. We could push buttons or just upgrade to a 'touch u' screen.
And I want to show I’m serious by proposing this idea. Jean said she would schedule a match with you and my chosen opponent on a show we’re calling ‘Spring Fling.’ Sounds appropriate, huh? Well, we both know I’m going to be in attendance watching the match. And I figure it would be hypocritical for me to get angry at you for saying that I should wrestle more, then pass up an actual opportunity to do so since I'll be there. Since I’m picking an opponent for you, how about you put that head to work as well? And not just to ease King back to sleep after one of his nightmares. Warm milk works for me, provided Geese is awake.”
*The driver skids a little and Robin laughs*
[Robin:] “So Kath - I get you off with a mystery opponent and you do the same for me. Sound good? I get another match in the tank before wrestling you at the 20th OG-FPD Anniversary and you get to watch your role model in action?
Meanwhile, I’m going to make sure that my choice is up to the task of facing you. Even though my original reasons for picking her to face you did treat her like a lost cause, maybe she isn't one. A lot of people thought that about me, after all. Twenty years ago, they never would have imagined me apologizing to someone else’s apology. If Figaro was here, he’d probably tearfully quote Rocky’s “If I could change” speech. But I think you and I have done enough talking for now. It’s time for action and I have someone to retrain since her idea of action needs a whole lotta rehabilitation.”
*The car slows down in front of a building. The sign says “Central Domiciliary Condominiums" on the front. Robin winks at the camera, pays the driver, and exits the vehicle as the camera turns off.*