[ WP ] A man wakes to the sound of his alarm . His eyes widen . He 's in a frantic rush to catch the train , but just as he reaches it he does n't get on .

The radio blared `` Got ta get up, got ta get goin', gon na see a friend of mine...'' and as I stretched my neck, I glanced over at the day calendar with bleary eyes. 
 
 MARCH 12, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS, SET CLOCKS FORWARD 
 
 I nodded at that and... FUCK! It hit me with sudden force that I I'd forgot to reset my clocks. It was n't 8am, it was 9! That meant I had 10 minutes to get up, get dressed, get out the door and across the street to catch the bus that would get me to the train station so I could get to work on time. 
 
 I barely got onto the bus with a sign of relief. That sigh was soon followed by a grunt of frustration as traffic slowed to a crawl because of a wreck up the street. 
 
 By the time the bus got to the station, there were two minutes left before the train would depart. As I dashed toward the 47 B line and approached the doors I skidded to a halt. 
 
 The Bear was on the train. 
 
 He looked at me with forlorn eyes as I shook my head. No one else could see him of course... they never had. 
 
 The doors closed and the train pulled out. 
 
 Taking out my phone I called my boss. `` Hey, Alli? Yeah, I'm gon na be a half hour late this morning.'' 
 
 `` Do n't worry Topher. We're giving everyone an hour's grace today. People are always late on daylight savings.'Sides, Sundays are low call flow anyway.'' 
 
 ********************************* 
 
 When I finally made it in, I scrambled over to my desk, pulled out my headset and started taking calls. My gut was burning with the acidic feel of frustration that always arrived after seeing The Bear. 
 
 After the morning queue was handled and some dead air came in, my cubicle neighbor popped his head round the corner. `` Hey Topher. Are you alright?'' 
 
 `` Yeah, just a rough morning. How you doin' Cal?'' 
 
 `` I'm alright.'' 
 
 I smiled `` So I take it you remember to set your clock ahead?'' 
 
 He shook his head and smiled. `` Naw, I forgot just like half the clowns here. Fortunately, my better half did remember, so my bacon was saved.'' 
 
 `` Yeah, that's the sign of a keeper right there buddy.'' 
 
 `` Dude... do not start in with that. I'm already getting enough of that talk from Suze. C'mon man, I'm still young, there's time enough for stuff like that later.'' 
 
 He made the motion of a call popping in and right before he finished up, I got one of my own. 
 
 ******************************************* 
 
 When my lunch break arrive Cal was on a hot call, so I went down to the break room and hoped he'd get free before I had to clock back in. 
 
 Suzanne was down in the break room with Wendi and Dori. `` Hey Topher! Just the guy we need. Can you settle a question for us?'' 
 
 I sat down at the table and shrugged. `` Maybe. What's the question?'' 
 
 Dori looked at me. `` So we're talking'80s Sci-Fi movies and who the biggest bad asses are. Right now it's a matter of The Terminator vs Robocop. Who wins?'' 
 
 I chuckled. `` That's easy. Robocop.'' 
 
 Dori smiled and Wendy glared. `` No way, Terminator is waaaay more bad ass.'' 
 
 `` Does n't matter. It's an'80s movie, so Robocop has to win.'' 
 
 `` That makes no sense, they're BOTH'80s movies.'' 
 
 `` Right, but if a separate and new movie were made, in the'80s, with Robocop taking on The Terminator, Robocop has to be the winner. He's law enforcement going against an assassin a Reagan era action movie. The rules of those movies, how they were made, who they were made for, who they were made by... it all adds up. The cyborg police officer ( who's also a thickly veiled Jesus metaphor ) with a human mind and soul inside an augmented body, absolutely has to triumph over cold, soulless assassin who can only do what's he's programmed to do, which makes him no better than some pinko commie.'' 
 
 Suzanne was looking at me with wide eyes. Dori was smiling and Wendy was frowning on frustration. Finally she huffed. `` Fuck you for being right.'' We all chuckled. 
 
 After that, Cal popped in and Suzanne said `` Hun,'80s movie showdown. The Devil from Legend and the Bad Guy from Krull... who wins?'' 
 
 He sat down `` The Devil... or as he's properly known Darkness.'' 
 
 We chatted on for a few minutes, then Dori, Wendi and Suzanne got up to get back on the clock. Cal turned to me `` Hey Topher, you're off tomorrow, right?'' I nodded. `` You wan na go out for a drink with me after work?'' 
 
 Shaking my head I said `` Naw. I'm not really in an alcohol mood tonight.'' Any day when I saw The Bear was something that stirred up emotions that should not be mixed with intoxicants. I'd learned that the hard way over the years. 
 
 `` How bout a non-alcohol mood? We could grab coffee or tea.'' 
 
 `` I dunno Cal, I got a lotta laundry and dishes piling up.'' The truth was, just plain did n't like being around anyone after seeing The Bear, but I could n't even imagine how to begin telling someone that, even if I wanted to. 
 
 `` C'mon, just an hour? There's something I need to talk with you about.'' 
 
 Giving in I nodded. `` Sure, if it's something like that, I can make some time. I think tea sounds good.'' I did n't like coffee all that much after an encounter, it made me jittery. `` Anyway, it's about time for me to clock back in.'' 
 
 `` Cool. We'll talk more later.'' 
 

