About Myrtle

Hi. My name is Meg. I'm a normal 26 year old human female. I like science and cats and snow. I'm a bit uptight and often overly concerned with trivial things. I have an almost sociopathic intolerance of incompetence.

I believe Leonard Cohen once said “Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act”. I'd like an easy life, to be carefree and easy going and I've always liked that guy's style so I tried to take his advice recently.

It went well at first. In a cafe, I took a deep breath and smiled sympathetically at the parents of the screaming child at the table beside me, while they ignored their sons boisterous attempts at expressing some unknown discomfort or annoyance. I smiled manically as 45 minutes passed while I waited for a bus that leaves the terminus every four minutes. I laughed nervously as I listened to that atrocious song on the Aer Lingus helpline for the eleventh time that morning.

Later that day, in the citizens information office, I watched as middle aged woman, after slightly older middle aged woman, refused to acknowledge my existence as the only person in the waiting room. Twenty-five minutes past and I noticed I was developing a worrying twitch in one of my legs, followed by both arms and finally an eye. Long story short, the day ended with me shouting at the clouds on the assumption that they were protecting whatever force of nature had gotten up before me that morning with the sole intention of ruining my day.

Something was awoken in me that day. I call her Myrtle. I think she's around 74 years old. She's been around a lot longer than you or I and has seen a great many things. Everyone would do well to heed her advice. She'd own a dozen cats and collect old newspapers if I'd let her, but I'm young, carefree and easy going so I don't allow such irrational behaviours. Instead, she writes angry letters. She writes them because she knows great change only comes from great anger. Her heart is in the right place and she's always ready to fight my corner when I'm busy being carefree, relaxed and getting on with important things like I've always wanted to.

This will be a series of her angry letters.