Screwed

Yesterday I went to a write-in at Gotham Writers’ Workshop. They give you a prompt and you write about it. One of the prompts was “screwed” and here is what I wrote:

Okay, okay, I know where your mind went. Well, no. I know where my mind went. I got a hint that that’s where some other minds went from the comments. That’s right. When I hear a word like screwed, my mind goes where yours does.

Carpentry.

Now, I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a carpenter. I’m not handy. If I have to do carpentry, well, we’re screwed. But I do know a hammer from a screwdriver and I do know what a screw is and I know where my mind went next:

Archimedes.

He invented the screw. It’s a device for moving water or other liquids. They are still being used today. You put one end of the screw in a river or ditch or whatever and when you turn the screw (or get it turned, these days, by electricity) the water moves out of the river and rises. You can then put the water into a container. It can also be used for irrigation. Or for getting rid of sewage. Without a screw, some people would be screwed.

And when I first looked at the prompt, with my computer glasses on and the glare from the lights, I didn’t see that S. “Crewed” I thought. “How am I going to write for 15 or 20 minutes about rowing? I am screwed.”

But then my mind went somewhere that I can be pretty certain yours didn’t.

Books.

Well, one book. My book. I titled it Screwed up Somehow but not Stupid: Life with a Learning Disability and I can be pretty sure your mind didn’t go there because I think it’s sold about 500 copies in 2 ½ years and there are 7 billion people on the planet and 300,000,000 just in America so what are the odds that one of those 500 is here in this class of 12 people? Not big. If I relied on the income from my book to live on, I would be screwed. Where did my mind go next?

Politics.

The country is run by a narcissistic, incompetent, ignorant traitor. We are screwed. Gack. Let’s get my mind off there. Oh, there’s always:

Music.

A song title just popped into my head. “Why don’t we get drunk and screw?” All I got was the title. So I Googled the lyrics. Ick. I’m glad I don’t remember the tune cause that way it won’t turn into an earworm. I’d be screwed.

But why do we get drunk and screw? Seems odd to me. Why not stay sober?