Long Way From Home
In Cali, Ben lived down the hall from another surgical resident from UCLA, Jonah, from Portland, Oregon. He had been commuting for a year. As they walked to the cafeteria on a rare break, the two men talked: "The hardest thing about being so close, but so far away is staying present when at work," Jonah said.
"And the going back and forth thing, right?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, but that got easier."
"When? A couple of weeks? Months?"
Jonah made a face. "Recently."
"Ahh, shit, man!" Ben laughed. Throughout lunch, Ben tried listening to the conversation going on around him, but all he could really think about was that it took a year to get used to something that he wasn't sure he wanted to get used to. Would he even last that long with the distance? He shook those thoughts from his head. "Damn, what shows don't y'all watch?" He asked jumping back into the table discussion.
