To Be In Between

I’m fixing to be in between.

If you’re in between it invariably means something or someone is no longer in your possession or presence, and whatever the replacement is, or what or who comes next, has not as yet made an appearance.

You can be in between something quite ordinary. After the Noel has past we’ll be in between Christmas and the New Year, which is an awkward time of the year. You put off attempting to correct your actions until after the New Year and continue them to the point of excess because you have resolved to quit them entirely on January first.

At the same time it is possible to be in between something of a serious nature. For instance, my Cousin Elroy is currently in between wives. The first one has attorneys and repossession agents harassing and chasing him. Her new boyfriend is bullying him, and the last time he paid her a visit to work out some property disagreements between them, her dog bit him.

His fiance is pressuring him to tie the knot sometime during the holidays. Elroy told me it seemed to him that he was about to jump out of the frying pan into the fire, and that he was in between a rock and a hard place.

I have another friend who is in between jobs. He is quite certain that he is no longer in possession of his old job, however, the start date of his new job has been extended to a date in between the first of the year and another date which hasn’t been revealed to him yet.

You can be stuck in the middle seat on an airplane trip and be in between two individuals of immense proportions, both of whom go to sleep and snore loudly while they drool on you.

It is quite possible to get in between two friends who are of opposite opinions on an important matter, and who both have enlisted your support on their side of the argument. Each will get angry if you don’t support that one, and they both will abandon you if you refuse to side with either.

So far we have presented ordinary and dire in between situations, and you might inquire if you can’t be in between something pleasant or profitable?

The answer is on the positive side, depending on you point of view.

I was in between Little Rock and Nashville one time, and due to the weather, I had to check into a hotel in Memphis, where a hairdresser’s convention was in progress.

My wife has her mind set on my escorting her on an ocean cruise.

I like the water, but only if there is some land visible, and within swimming distance. I have a horror of being adrift in the expanse of the ocean and being devoured by sharks.

She’s packing her bags.

It looks like I’m fixing to be in between the devil and the deep blue sea.