Perceptions revisited

I know I talked about this before but I've been struggling with all the tell notes I have for this story with no idea how to show this stuff. Until I made the connection between an interesting thing that happened yesterday.

I applied for a car loan. I'm now making more than double what I brought home for most of my working life. So when I told the guy doing the application what my salary was, I glowed with pride. He questioned the figure repeatedly. I glowed more. Isn't it amazng that I make that much money? Apparently, it's not that much. He makes more than that in a day. Nice life. I suppose his reaction should have diminished my pride and self-worth but it didn't. I still appreciate how far I've come financially, even if it's not up to his standards. It's up to mine.

And that's when it occurred to me that my hero cannot possibly comprehend my demon's issues. He grew up in a family that accepts and loves him for who he is, warts and all. He's laid-back, easy-going and well-liked. Hate, self-loathing and abject terror are completely outside his frame of reference. Just as the opposite is outside of hers. Beacuse they view life from opposite sides of the coin, at some point one of them is going to have to experience what the other one does. For them to come together as a couple,they're both going to learn how the other half lives.

I have a nifty little graph in my head that illustrates that. It looks a lot like the acceptance stamp on my car loan. Not really but I had no idea how else to tie the two back together. Frame of reference, people.