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November 29, 2007 |
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I'm So Sorry
FOUND by Zach Duffy
in Chicago, Illinois
Found this message on the back of a business card in the stairwell of my apartment building.
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Tiny Apology July 21, 2006 |
Abandoned Bbq August 30, 2005 |
Pssst. May 08, 2006 |
Not Sitting December 13, 2005 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
wow. poor BJ. THAT's a bummer.
Its probably the truth, too. Just enough information, not too much to be unbelievable.
Here are some deep questions on my mind: What kind of store is it? Why does Ellyn not answer her phone? What time was the note written? Was it a dreary Thursday? Did BJ have time for breakfast before rushing off to the store? Was anything stolen? Taken? Abused? Are they going to get an alarm system? How did she fit all of that on a busiiness card? Is there a service that will come out and board up your windows?
Is there... Oh, to hell with it, I'm already kind of tapped out on this one.
Thank goodness for the break, I've got a lot of stuff to do in the next 24 hours, and now I'll have time to focus! .:-)
Dear Found Guys- I'm not ungrateful, I promise. The last 4 days here have been INSANE, I'm sure we could all benefit from the chance to take a breath.
I have this feeling he was supposed to help her move out of the apartment.
What's this about a break? I don't get it.
Other than that I am completely confused by this note. Maybe because I just got home after working for 14 hours straight.
dear clover,
the store was broken into. we're all bummed. the "break" is the break in.
sweet dreams, don't let the bedbugs bite.
I thought sarasara was referring to the break from 'creepy kids / weird poses / disturbing objects' of the past few finds.
I love that BJ is kind enough to see past his/her own bad morning to apologise to Ellen and to offer to help later. BJ is a very good friend and I'm bummed that shit stuff happens to such nice people (yes, rosy is the tint of my specs).
that too. i inadvertently laid out a double entendre (except that neither meaning is risque)
i guess i needed a break so much that i forgot what we were breaking from (awkward kids of the world, UNITE)... and it just so happened to coincide with bj's own break.
see, i told you i needed a break!
I wonder what was on the other side of the business card?
i hate it when people don't tell us the incredibly important unseen information. I loooooove this kind of note. I just hope Ellyn (cute spelling, tho i bet she hated it in grade school. "no, e-l-l-Y-n. yeah, i guess its cute, my mom did that.") got the note. otherwise she's going to wonder what happened to BJ.
I totally took this a different way. I took it as the person writing the note worked at the store and was trying to get ahold of the person above them (Ellyn)...but she hasn't been so great about giving out her contact info! So...BJ stayed for the police...has gone home...and is definitely willing to come back and help clean up later when Ellyn gets her shit together..lol...but...that's just how I see it.
They have a service for everything.
I was actually looking forward to the next disturbing kid picture
There's no easy way to be told bad news....but written on the BACK of a BUSINESS card? Good grief!
What the hell is sarasara rambling about. A break? Insane week? Jesus.
Oops sorry, I went back and read the comments. I guess everybody was confused by sarasara. Have coffee before you get on the net will ya. Mona, I had a friend who went to a dating service and when he got the list of women's names he weeded out the ones with cute spellings like Ellyn, Karyn, etc., because it meant they were too young. His reasoning was that only young contemporary parents change the spelling and that he was probably more their parents age.
Thanks Sue Bee, for saying what I was thinking! I was going to say damn sarasara pace yourself
Sue Bee.... good strategy. I'm glad i named my kids normal things. Like offspring #1 and offspring #2.
I hope that he definitely weeded out Kelli and Britnee.
Maybe sarasara should have a nap before she gets on the net. Might be more beneficial. lol...
And Sara? you haven't seen insane on here. remember the pantycrickets?? that was insane.
Pantycrickets! That whole deer pic was insane. Who does that! I like Sarasara, but I only like to read the medium to short comments, unless it's Johnathan, then I know it's interesting.
isn't he wonderful...... i just love jonathan. I can't wait till he gets here.
I don't understand when the author writes, "I don't have your cell# and I'm not getting an answer?"
Some one please explain...?
I think that BJ says she's "not getting an answer" at the door of her apartment. So, she found a piece of paper in her purse (the business card) wrote the note and slipped it under the door.
I hope Ellyn got the card so she will know the BJ is not dissing her. It would be unfortunate if the card slipped from the door and Ellyn never saw it.
how sweet of BJ to go out of the way to get a note to Ellyn still offering to help after everything that happened, BJ must have a BIG heart!
this find is sad. can we get a peppy one for tomorrow please?
Holly, I think BJ is trying her land line and or door. Also, I've been assuming BJ is a woman and was supposed to help Ellyn pack or pick up a couch or something.
Mmmmm.
I love a good BJ too!
I think BJ is lying.
The spelling of Ellyn reminds me of the SNL skit where Eddie Murphy is calling role at a summer came. Vagina - here, Gonorrhea -here, Chlamydia - here.....
How can BJ be not getting an answer when he doesn't even have Ellyn's number? Hah!Because she is back at HIS place and she is not answering HIS phone. He was supposed to meet her for breakfast after he opened up the store and now he can't reach her to tell her about the break-in. He gave a kid $5 and wrote a message on the back of a business card and told him to take it to his place. The heart at the end says, "last night was fantastic" but Ellyn will never know because the kid took the money and threw the card in the stairwell.
The End (roll credits)
BJ lol ... he better get one after his terrible day.
I think BJ and Ellyn are co-workers. BJ is a manager or owner that was notified when the store was broken into and went down there to take care of all the immediate things. I agree with others that BJ was trying to contact Ellyn, the employee, on her land-line or her door, but didn't get an answer and left a note. The apology is b/c Ellyn has to open the store, and since it was just broken into, it is probably a huge mess. But BJ is tired from all of this morning chaos, so is going to take it easy for a little bit. At least they're nice enough to offer Ellyn their service later in the clean up process, though.
Be dumb.
Say no to smart!
Use small words like "wha", "huh" and "uh".
Avoid big words like "verisimilitude" and "redacted".
Dumb is the new cool.
Get with the times!
Ellyn,
We and the boys were hammering and screwing and airnailing and shooting all night. What a board up service! You have no idea. When BJ left he was good and tired.
Please be gentle and understanding,
the shooters
Ironically, Ellyn just needed help getting up off the floor.
Christina,
I like your story but you are conveniently avoiding the heart that BJ placed by his name. There is something more than just some job aquaintance going on here.
(btw, I changed the spelling of my name in honor of Ellyn)
BJ is a woman (Betty Jane/Jean?). How many men do you know who sign with a heart?
They do use an alarm company. That is who called BJ and the police. I was a Gap manager, and have been called to come down to the store in the middle of the night. Once it was just a violent wind that didn't even break the windows, but shook them enough to set off the alarm. Another time it was "civil unrest" in Berkeley (the 80s, not even the 60s) and windows were broken.
Companies like The Gap have a list of businesses to call for window board-up and lock re-keying, etc.
I bet Ellyn had spent all morning moaning about the fact that BJ had promised to help but where was she, eh? Then she will have felt incredibly guilty when she found out about the break in.
No cell number. No answer at the door. A break in. Wake up, BJ! All the evidence points to Ellyn; she burglarized your store. This truly is a perfect crime.
so we've decided that BJ is a female now? This may make me totally rethink my story. And, the heart? This epsiode is airing on Showtime?
Oh Sue Bee and Sigh ing, what a nice suprise to find waiting for me on Found! Thank you!!
Well, nothing to say on this one. I kind of refrain from commenting if I don't think I'm adding anything (except maybe later when it gets fun and silly, just a few of us sitting around the fire and winding each other up, don't y'know).
I was going to make an off-colour joke about 'love BJ' but mercifully a couple of you have beaten me to it...
I agree, BJ was being very caring and considerate. I had assumed a male person, but looking again at the handwriting and the heart it could well be a female.
But following my recent experiences with Wombles I am very cautious about making such assumptions these days.
Elephants too. You don't want to get on the wrong side of an elephant whose gender you have misconstrued.
Goodnight and elephant hugs to y'all --
xx )*j*(
Now I get it. The thing that confused me last night was the "our store" thing. It sounded like BJ and Ellyn owned the store together. If BJ had just written "my store," there wouldn't have been all this confusion for strangers who would later read this note! Geez.. !
You got it BroMemphis!! – I spotted this plot-twist too… Ellyn did the break-in.. She’s not answering ‘cause she’s not there. She's out fencing the loot!!
BJ is sure havin’ a busy day!!
sarasara in never said: "Thank goodness for the break, I've got a lot of stuff to do in the next 24 hours, and now I'll have time to focus! .:-) and Dear Found Guys- I'm not ungrateful, I promise. The last 4 days here have been INSANE, I'm sure we could all benefit from the chance to take a breath.
~~~~ Now *I* took it even further off the hook… I thought that maybe sarasara has been doing a short-term but intense internship at Found magazine? And maybe this post means she gets a long weekend off????
sarasara - it happens to me, too. Sometimes my mind races so fast, over so many subjects, that I sit down and write a thought that's in the middle of them all - and expect all around me to understand the context. (*sigh* Sometimes I'm hard to live with!!)
Sarasara's comments were a great addition to Speculation Frenzy on the original found.
(oops - that was the first sentence of the above post)
mona lisa in the groovy louvry….
I am still dazzled by the whole panty-crickets exchange and episode(s)… 'PantyCrickets' should be immortalized somehow… No matter how I think about it, tho’, I can’t figure out how. A t-shirt either with that photo (eeeuuuww-aarrrgh!! ) or with a slogan “panty-crickets”… doesn’t seem right.
(hmmm… “Stamp out Panty Crickets!” ??) Or, if one could stand the picture on the shirt, the caption could be “Pass on your panty crickets” ??) OR... "Get your panty crickets here!!" ??)
thanks camelya/camelia!
you nailed it on
a) naughty, thieving ellyn
b) moving too fast in too many different directions and expecting everyone else to understand. I'm pretty hard to live with too. I know I've found a keeper when they can keep up:-)
also, i somehow missed the pantycrickets. off to go learn about these (hopefully) elusive creatures. reminds me of an old porn i saw a very long time ago, so i'm a bit nervous...
i tried to find "panty crickets" to no avail. and i simply MUST KNOW. anyone know the date or better key words?
help!
In spite of everything that has happened, BJ sounds more concerned about Ellyn than himself. He sounds like a keeper :)
Sarasara, read 'em and weep (all 179 comments.)
Anti Fourth of July
http://www.foundmagazine.com/comments/1524
I wonder if Ellyn liked Run DMC
You be Ellyn!
that's the one i wish i'd never seen
Thanks Night-in-G.... a Found & Comments that will go down in History!! And Mur, once again - thank you for the inspiring STD diagnosis!!
Confession: At one point I copied ALL the comments & put them in a word doc AND printed them!!
Wacko Is as Wacko Does, eh? (cameli-wacko)
whoa.
thanks for the link, night. (I'm serious, it wasn't your fault that it's mindnumbing-ly off the hook!)
that was insane. i am totally altered now, and more than a little misanthropic/ tired/ weary.
I've seen this somewhere...
thought you'd like that, sarasara.... get some sleep.
Sarasara -- how many times do I have to say this?
Get some SLEEP!!!
PS -- if you need any help relaxing, just say the word... Oh, it's a bit of a long way to come over to your place (even through the secret Womble tunnel under the North Pole).
xx )*j*(
i love found and i get the whole concept of finding random artifacts from our day-to-day lives, but my only question is: what if ellyn needed that note? i hope she got it before zach posted it!
I guess I took this a totally different way: I thought BJ was Ellyn's husband, and they own a store together. Ellyn's phone was turned off so he didn't know where she was, so he left her a note for when she came back to the apartment after her errands, in case Ellyn was worrying. I think the heart is just a quick "I love you", BJ seems in a bit of a rush to go sit down somewhere.
Hmm... I guess my theory still does not explain the last part of the note...
BJ meets Ellyn through his business partner Ted. BJ and Ellyn have an instant attraction and go on a first date. BJ likes Ellyn but finds her to be a bit needy and clingy. He hasn't been with a woman in far too long.
Ellyn likes BJ, but he just seems like every other man. He only wants one thing. Still, Ellyn needs to believe and desperately wants intimate human contact--there hasn't been anyone since high school. It could be BJ.
While on the date, Ellyn checks on BJ's commitment level by mentioning that she needs some help in the morning to set up a party for her parent's twenty-fifth anniversary. BJ understands what this means. He agrees reluctantly, but convincingly, to help tomorrow morning.
That's enough for Ellyn. A short time later at her apartment, Ellyn allows herself to fully enjoy all that BJ has to offer her body. Afterward, Ellyn finds a smile on her face and for a brief and fleeting moment, Ellyn feels complete. Ellyn slips into a warm, timeless sleep.
BJ notices Ellyn's tightly shut eyes. His head is beginning to clear from the evening's red wine. BJ has things to do tomorrow. He doesn't know what he'll say to Ellyn. He likes Ellyn, but he's not ready for a commitment. He has plans. Being careful not to disturb Ellyn, BJ finds his clothes and slinks out.
BJ reaches his apartment and falls asleep on his couch. He awakes at 6:30 a.m. and mildly panics. BJ HAD to get out of there, but there will be consequences.
Ellyn's door is locked and he doesn't have a key--he doesn't even have her phone number!! He gave Ellyn his number but he can't just wait for her to call him. BJ goes to Ellyn's place. He only hears his own heartbeat. BJ quickly scratches out a note. He'll need to talk to Ted and wait for Ellyn to call. Hope she gets the note . . . .