a memory? of an event?

i'm sitting somewhere. or am i standing? i can't quite picture it. and i'm talking to a man with whom i'm familiar but don't know too well.

and we're having a conversation that feels more comfortable than it should because we've never really had a conversation, just the two of us. and he's talking about his job? and he says something that surprises me and i'm imagining a dark place, trying to put a thought to the image in my head. trying to connect the dots and find an association.

"we're like canaries in a coalmine," he says, finding the words that my thoughts were trying to lead me to.

when discussing his job he knows it's a strange situation, which is why he wants to smile, but that it's not ideal, which is why the smile goes no further than a grin.

and i laugh, impressed by his simile, or is it a metaphor? i forget which is which...no matter. i'm impressed by the connection he's made to himself as the canary and his job, the coalmine, because i don't perceive him as being particularly bright, or insightful. and it wasn't an obvious association.

and wisps of this conversation float through my head and i can't remember whether it's one i've actually had or whether it is purely a figment of my imagination.