RAH RAH RAH !

As I was walking from my car to my workplace yesterday morning, I ran across a friend and colleague who works for a different company than I do. Coincidentally, he happens to live in New York's Upper West Side neighborhood where I work. So, periodically, and it's inevitable, I do run into him from time to time.

When I don't see him for a while, it is likely that he's away working for an extended period somewhere in Southeast Asia launching another one of his company's ventures/conduits. That was the case today. He mentioned he'd been living in Singapore since June.

We do some catching up every time we cross paths. Small talk. We exchange ideas, tips and work tales.

I've known LL practically since the first week that Wifey and I moved to NYC back in 1989. LL is one of those "damn glad to see you" type of guys with a firm handshake and good unwaivering eye contact. Some people find that threatening. Wifey used to. These days, since Wifey left the professional world ten years ago, on the occasions that I get to mention to her that I've run across LL, she'll remember him with a great deal of good natured nostalgia.

You see, LL was one of Wifey's co-workers back then and Wifey used to loathe him. Wifey used to have to work closely with him. Wifey always felt he was a little too bombastic. So, since Wifey's life experiences are very different than mine, and I sometimes feel they're somewhat cloistered, her perception of LL was totally different than mine ever was.

Things were so different way back then. We were all fledgling professionally. He had moved from Indiana just a couple of years before we did from Arizona. I know that when I see LL and he sees me, we can't help but to think about how it used to be all those years ago.

As always, LL asks about Wifey and the family. It's generally the first thing out of his mouth every time we meet. Fortunately, the refrain is and has remained consistant; that Wifey is fine and The Savages are thriving.

This time, I happened to have mentioned that Wifey was co-chairing a black-tie fund raiser for my ten-year-old’s school. That it's taking place tonight. Country Club, black-tie and items to bid on, picture in the local paper type of event. We went last year and I met some very nice people then. We had a great time.

LL had nothing but compliments about her doing so. I told him that next year, she's not the co-chair but, the chairwoman herself. Go Wifey go, he said.

But my thoughts drifted when I was telling him all this. I thought about how this event has stressed Wifey out and how it has allowed for much neglect around the home that has affected me and The Savages. Neglect that finally piqued some acrimony this past week. Acrimony that led me to put my foot down and declare that I will not be attending this God damned fucking gala.

This whole thing has had her lose some of her senses and when I pointed exactly what I meant by that, it only created more venting that made yesterday a no-phone-call-day at work for me. She pled her case this morning just before I left the house, but she attempted to do so in a most repugnant and ineffective manner.

Just to put things in perspective, in one incident that occurred last week, Wifey almost lost us about 800 dollars, AGAIN! Last year she went ahead and lost that amount regarding some insurance issues. I said nothing about it last year. I figured that it would have been a learning lesson for her and for me this coming year.

Yet, last Friday, after the deadline had passed to file for these breaks, she very glibly simply stated that she wasn’t able to get that done, even though I had conveyed my concern about it in the days leading up to the 5 p.m. EDT deadline. In paraphrase, she said something like, "Oh well, I guess you can just be upset at me all weekend then."

I practically exploded in a loud rage. I remedially explained to her how that attitude of her’s just cost us about 800 dollars, AGAIN. She had never thought about what last year’s oversight, over the course of a year, was actually worth until I explained it to her in black and red.

So, I said to her that two can play by those rules and that because of that, I will definitely not have time to attend her dog-and-pony event.

She had the nerve to call me from the event yesterday, ready to put some friends who I know on the phone, to have them persuade me to just come over after work. That only led me to hang up the phone on her before she could do that. She’s either lost her mind or she and her fundraiser pals have all turned into some sort of desperate suburban crack smokers.

After work, I leisurely sucked down on a Steel 40 while I relaxed inside my car. I bought one round-trip on the subway at the 72nd Street station and two stops later, I scalped my way into the John Fogerty concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Mmmm…..let me see. John Fogerty or phony Cheshire grinning and air-cheek-kissing the rest of the night?

It’s so surreal seeing LL and thinking how different things are for both of us since.

I can’t possibly imagine or envision what our stories or situations would ever be like if I were to run into him on the street 18 years from now.

But one thing I do hope for then is for John Fogerty to still be playing concerts that I can go to as an alternative on a Friday night.

*!*

posted by JerryNJ @ 2:27 PM