9:30 PM - 02.10.04
Mille Grazie
Not a lot to say today dear diary. My assistant let me know she finally received her pay yesterday. Good news. I haven`t heard from anyone else so I guess I just wait for any more feedback.
The bus rides lately have been instructive and I did promise to relate some details didn`t I? With all the schools back in session romance seems to be uppermost in most traveller`s minds. At least some definition of it anyway. There are the cell phone calls that are too loud to ignore pledging undying devotion and expressing depths of despair as the intended on the other end of the line explains their lack of chemistry. There are the detailed dissections of why one of the couple had any social contact with others of the opposite gender and the inevitable same gender confabs giving the intimate - and usually exaggerated details of their most recent amorous adventures. Watch the number "Summer Nights" in Grease to see what I mean as in Sandy - "He got friendly - holding my hand" as opposed to Danny "She got friendly - down in the sand" Uh huh. Thne there are " do you think they noticed me" types of conversations. When my son and I attended his conference last week at a high school crosstown three very cute young ladies were eyeing my son but smiling at me. Get the mom on side I guess. I pointed the interest out to my youngest as we were walking out the door and he just snorted. He still prefers computers. That`s fine by me - less trouble that way. I think too that he`ll be one of those unfortunates to be smitten with the love at first sight thing and that will be all there is to it - we`ll see. Back on the bus there is the cuddling and cooing that often goes on in various corners as well as the game playing and sparring between partners just working out the power differential between them. Not intervening sometimes is very difficult. You know when a guy says to his intended - "If you loved me you`d ......" Tempted to point out to the young lady that if he loved her he wouldn`t put her in a position like that, but then what would I know.
The skaters I sat by yesterday were much more entertaining and refreshing - four young men who obviously lived for their chosen sport. They knew every rail that we passed - the quirks and challenges. Each young guy going to school and holding down jobs just so they could buy the latest to make their skate more exciting. Each bought his own toys and knew how to maintain them. Going back to the Grease theme the conversation was similar to the song "Greased Lightning" without any sexual overtones. Just passion for their sport without caring what anyone else thought about them for it. One young fellow chatting about starting a business just providing the facilities for skaters - already underway with investors in place. Might have been hot air - but "follow your bliss" as the guru`s are wont to say. Encouraging each other in handling their money responsibly. Talking about a group trip to Texas - they have skaters there? - in the late fall. Almost all of them had already saved up their fare and had spending money too. Pretty impressive. As they were getting up to detrain one stop before mine one uttered a profanity and apologized abjectly to me. Now this was the group that none of the commuters other than me would sit near because of the clothes and hairstyles - my gain their loss, one of the most instructive and entertaining conversations I`ve been privileged to eavesdrop on in a long time.
Met one woman just getting off the same stop as mine yesterday. We had travelled the morning route for a long time together then a couple of years ago she just wasn`t there any longer. Her mother lived in a small city just north of here and needed to be institutionalized - dementia and health problems galore. She had been talking about going to live in that city to be nearer her mom so I just assumed that she had followed through. Not so. She had been laid off after nearly 20 years at one job and couldn`t find any other work at all this past two years. Unemployment services finally paid for her to get some business courses and she was just starting her new job. Just exstatic she was to have a paycheck coming in that she could call her own. Remember to be grateful for what you`ve got Grasshopper. Add in the column today by the one writer I like in our local paper - his story about one of the homeless and his cardboard shelter sleeping in the early frost bitten part of the morning. Yes remember that Grasshopper - there at some point in our lives but for the grace of the almighty go most of us. Mine came when the boys father left and I wondered how I was going to feed and clothe them. Work was very hard to come by sometimes but at least we always had a warm place to lay our heads. Be thankful - I am.
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