Vignettes
Regular guy dinner
My neighbor Ed took me out for dinner at a health food restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. He is here not often, staying in Albany with his younger 2nd wife. His first had died. Ed was Jewish but being from Albany did not have many hard edges. Hence, he was easy to be around. He was approaching a big birthday. In Florida when he was gone I looked after his place. When his 88 year old father in law stayed down for a couple of months I kept an eye on him.
The restaurant was full, surprising on a Monday night. Traffic had been heavy. On the way I told him about my car, Irving's recent troubles and ongoing saga. It was an interesting tale and still was not finished. He listened and offered that his new car after 25,000 miles had no warranty and he just spent $450 on it. On the food front I ordered bison organic meat, something I rarely have. I also had carrot cake for desert. Before there was a salad and then a pizza like appetizer made from organic ingredients.
The place was noisy and I had trouble hearing him. I did hear that he was arranging a vacation for his family for his big birthday. During the meal I was bumped from behind often but I, normally observant, was oblivious. Finally I looked behind me I saw a table filled with 8 women occupying part of the isles. No wonder. Ed said they were very rude in grabbing chairs. The entire meal I was unaware of what happened but he was watching. We both were critical of their behavior.
We talked about his wife's good friend's husband who just recovered from colon cancer. It was a bit of a nightmare although when I saw his friend Bob he looked fine. Ed told me he will be driving Bob's car back to New York because Bob can't sit that long. The year had been a hard one for Bob and his wife They were down in Florida for a short while and I saw them briefly at Ed's place.
On the way home Ed stopped short at a yellow light. I told him at 130 AM I once got a ticket for running a yellow light turning red. He said did you fight it? I said I looked into it but didn't. He said if I disagreed I should have written a letter. I said I have to priortize my battles. We went back and forth. He said one time he wrote a letter about a ticket and got satisfaction. I considered what he said and said so. I felt no pressure to finalize a conclusion.
There is no theme or major or even minor point to this writing. It is just tidbits from life with no central thrust. However, there can be a point to be drawn from all this. That is once in awhile it is okay just to be a regular guy having a regular evening with another regular guy with no agenda attached or purpose . It's okay just to be regular some times.