What People Are Reading

We will boldly go where no one has gone before.
-Star Trek

I was out and about in New York City a couple of days ago and I saw the following people reading these books:
1. Love and Hydrogen: New and Selected Stories
by Jim Shepard.
Who was reading it? A bespectacled mid-thirties man, wearing light brown army fatigue camouflage pants and a denim baseball cap. He was on the Lexington Line Express train. I imagined him to be a former military based type.

2. Ragged Dick & Struggling Upward
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Who was reading it? A bald, bespectacled late-thirties gentleman with an IKEA shopping bag. He was on the Lexington Line local train. I imagined him to be Swedish.

3. The Devil and Miss Prym, a novel of Temptation
by Paulo Coelho.
Who was reading it? An early twenties black fellow wearing a dark hood, khaki colored cargo pants and IPOD headphones while on the M86 bus headed towards W. 86th Street & Broadway. I imagined him to be a student (the backpack was a dead giveaway).

4. Sweet Sensation
by Gwyneth Bolton (Sensuous Love Stories).
Who was reading it? An early 20’s black woman, wearing a baseball cap with a wig and the words ‘RUN EASY’ printed on the cap. She was on an Express subway heading Downtown, talking loud, aggressively to her potential boyfriend.

5. The Nightingale (Hardcover)
by Hans Christian Anderson (illustrated by Jerry Pinkney).
Who was reading it? A four year old girl, seated next to her mother who was knitting. The little girl was wearing bright neon pastel colors. I imagined her mother to be a maid who finished work and just picked up her daughter at some unknown pre-school.

Twenty-five years ago today:

May 16, 1984
Wednesday

I sold six custom calling features today. I was on a roll. I am still crossing my fingers that my company job transfer will come through.

I drank a wine cooler and a Dorado sandwich at the Pot Belli Deli. Boy, was that good! I ate alone as I examined the BASS concert ticket schedule for May 1984.

When I telephoned Chris I learned he was at the Coast Guard Base. Barb was there having lunch. Chris was on-duty. I had to chat with her for a good fifteen minutes. When I made another attempt to call Chris at 2:30PM he was not able to come to the phone. His US Coast Guard duty took precedence.

5pm came around and I took off to donate at the “Bank”. I was surprised when they gave me a $65 dollar check from my donations since the month of April. Whoopee! I can pay off a bill or buy a new pair of bike shorts.

I took a bike ride to the bank to deposit it into a real “Bank”. A couple of lewd looking fellas were eyeing me while seated in their truck. I simply ignored them.

I returned home for ‘a good bike ride excursion’ and made myself a homemade ham sandwich. I did some personal bookkeeping, paid off a few bills. At precisely 8:35PM the telephone rang. It was Chris Cordellos calling to say how ‘down and out’ he was feeling.
“You know Barbara’s ever-changing moods really get to me,” Chris explained.
“What did she do now?” I asked.
“Never mind her...I have to tell you what happened with Leandra!”
“Leandra?”
“Yeah, while I was sleeping she took off all of her clothes and crawled into bed with me. She went down my pants with her hands!” Chris revealed as I grimaced in disbelief.
I could not believe that one. How does he get in these predicaments? I guess I should talk, huh?
“And then what happened?” I asked, pressing for the follow-up ‘happy ending’.
“Well, I woke up! I got up and I talked to a couple of people about it. I think Leandra was kind of ‘out of it’ or somethin’. Whatever,” Chris said with a ‘still in shock’ tone.

Chris is still worried about our long-distance romance. He continues to jabber on about his being there (Arcata) and my being here (Alameda). I did reassure him once again. We talked until 9:10pm and I told him I’d call back at 11PM (when the long-distance rates are cheaper).

At 11PM I kept my word and we spoke until midnight.
“Yeah, I am so bummed about Barb always being on my back,” Chris said. We laughed about how she thinks she is like his ‘mother’.
“You don’t know the half of it. She fixes me with these guilt trips so bad,” Chris cried.
We still can’t wait until the May 23rd visit. We discussed the possibility of my coming up this weekend.
“We’ll see how it goes,” I said with hopeful intentions.