The Floss-Effect

I was never a flosser. I always knew it was something I was supposed to be doing, but also, I always knew that I just wasn't going to do it. And so I didn't. The closest I came to being a regular flosser was my first year in Chile, but that was only motivated by my lack of faith in the local population of dentists and even with that I spent the second year floss-free. It just didn't matter to me. It just wasn't worth it.

And then, I don't know why, really, but I met this girl, and she seemed like someone I should be better for. Oddly enough, "better" took the form of someone-who-flosses. And I flossed. And for years, now, I've continued to floss, even after she's come and gone.

From one moment to the next we're different people, but perhaps it is relationships, even the transitory relationships that never quite make it off the ground, that change us the most.

I'm on the lookout now for someone that will turn me into a regular car-washer. Any takers?

As I write this I'm beginning to wonder if I've ever had the floss-effect on someone. It's an awkward question to ask: when we dated did it make you a better person? Maybe it's safer to modify it: how did our dating make you a different person?

Was it worth it?

I'd settle for turning someone into a Tarantino fan.