Teasers, Agitprop, and Funnies

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One of These Days I'm Going to Sit Down and Write a Long Letter  
Sometimes I forget how long I've lived in this city. Usually I remember if I'm spring cleaning the apartment, finally throwing out things that I haven't looked at in years, or sometimes tucking them away again so I can rediscover them months later. Today I had an errand that took me into an area of the city, a few blocks really, that I haven't visited in years.

Days after I moved to the city for real I started working as a temp at a British publishing company. It was my day-job, the thing to keep me going until I got going. Maybe because we were all strangers in a strange land, they took care of me. I worked hard, but my boss there was excellent. I worked my way and my temporary position became permanent and up the ladder I went.

It was a wonderful relationship but it was also doomed like all relationships where two entities like each other but aren't meant to be. I left more than once and they always had me back. I started working part time to devote more time to entertainment pursuits. The CEO got me a job working weekends at his partner's antique shop so I'd have extra money. I moved to Vermont for the summer. They promised me I'd have a place when I came back. I left for good. I came back. The job wasn't perfect but it was familiar, and there were people there I had a real connection with, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. I stayed on, through moves to different offices to new bosses to new positions. I made amazing friends over the years. We went on weekend vacations with our husbands and boyfriends. Finally they pulled the plug. I was self-righteously outraged when that happened. It turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.

But after the fallout I stayed away just like one might avoid the old haunts they once shared with an ex. One of those haunts was the place where I ate lunch probably every weekday for years. Sometimes if it was a rough day and I could get away I was there afternoons too for a coffee pickup. If it had been a bad week I might get a cheesecake brownie. It was probably overpriced but I didn't care.

In a city like New York, the biggest small town in America, I've built relationships with the people I see every day. Even if I don't know their names or never invite them to a friend's gig or instant message them to say hello, I see them every day. Bodega owners and baristas, they know how I like my coffee and let me pay next time if I find myself short of cash.

I walked into the place I used to walk into two or three times a day. It was actually in a new bigger location around the corner. I didn't see anyone I knew until I got to the counter and there she was. We don't know each other's name, but she'd noticed when I got engaged. She didn't ring me up, but she caught my eye as I was headed out and her face lit up. We exchanged hellos and how are yous. I'm here we said. We're still here.

For some reason that felt pretty good.

posted by Maxwell at 4:26 PM