So, want me to grant your wish?
Well, wait, what I mean to say is...Hello.
Who am I? You may call me...Shim. I am a genie, but not the kind you find in a lamp. No no, I was freed from those shackles decades ago. Yet, with all the power my freedom affords, I still most enjoy listening to the mortals around me and fulfilling their wishes. Granted, yes, most of the time they do not realize that they are retaining my services, but I assure you that I only act on wants spoken directly to me.
Why am I speed dating? The buffet obviously, why are you here?
I mean, of course there are so many people who have so many small wishes to grant in these few moments and I do so delight in giving people what they want.
That sounds deceitful? Sure, sometimes my means of granting a wish is not exactly straight forward. Most times, most times I assure you, there is a good outcome. I can count on one hand how many times things have gone poorly.
Why yes, that hand did have more than five fingers, how nice of you to notice.
Anyway, I was on vacation on the Jersey shore. As usual, I had set up my little fortune telling booth along a street filled with popular restaurants for dates and celebrations. Those two functions always produce the most interesting of conflicts as people try to be nice despite not wanting to. I was sitting behind my booth old grandma costume on, crackly voice and all urging people to come and let me read their fortune.
Suddenly, this couple walks out of the restaurant I'm closest to, the woman clearly disgruntled and the guy obviously trying to save something.
"This is why I don't do tinder!" She looked like she could have walked out of a swimwear photo shoot. I am talking, tall, blonde, and curvy in all the right places. She was dressed down—white shorts, half boots, and a tank top if I recall—but, from the way she held herself, it was obvious she was used to being dressed well on a regular basis.
"No shit, people do tinder to get laid!" He, on the other hand, was a different kind of sexual creature. He had that air of meticulous grooming. Every aspect of his outfit was obviously carefully chosen to speak volumes about who he was. Why else would someone wear Armani shoes to the boardwalk?
"I very well might have slept with you if you hadn't been such a sex obsessed ass!"
"I wouldn't be sex obsessed if you didn't look like that!" the guy said pausing in front of my booth. "Well, I'd probably would still be sex obsessed, but I probably would not have swiped right!"
"Did you even read my bio?!" she screamed, turning quickly towards him, her neat bun not budging an inch with the motion. She had to look down, her 5'10" frame seemingly towering over this guy.
"Who reads profiles?!" the guy said, stepping around her.
I tried to interject to break up the fight in front of my establishment.
"Uh, I do. It said you like dogs, hiking, and reading current events. I doubt you could even name a current event!"
"Does the World Series count?"
"What the hell is wrong with you? I don't understand men, let alone men like you!"
"Well, sweetie, I don't understand stuck up women who keep it locked away!"
Finally I used some magic to get their attention and they both turned to face me.
"What do you think, lady. Is this broad too stuck up?"
"I'm not...ugh. Tell me, miss, how does one get this far in life thinking they're stuck in high school?"
Oh yeah, this was a good one. "What if I told you that I could give you the answers? What if I told you I could let you see the world from each others' eyes?"
"What like body swapping? Nah man, if I'm going be a chick I want to be fun!"
"Truly. If I had to be a man, I would strive to be the perfect gentleman."
I smirked and snapped my fingers. Tomorrow they'd be waking up very different from where they were now. With any luck, looking at the world through the other's lens for a day would, if nothing else, get them both to grow some empathy. That they would grow into the ideals they had just stated was only gravy.
"Well then, you shall see at dawn tomorrow. Sound good, eh?"
They of course agreed, thinking this was all some ploy, but I have gone and used up all our time talking about this. I do apologize.
You want to hear more? Really? Well, let us blow this popsicle stand then and go have pancakes somewhere. Over coffee, I will tell you all about how Ellena and Phillip III came to understand one another.