Had a couple of hearty laughs on the street. I couldn't find a parking spot anywhere near 24th Avenue and 86th, my usual Saturday spot, so I decided to go to Avenue U between West 7th & 8th, where I haven't set up shop in a while. It looked like a poor choice until this middle aged dude, who smelled as if he'd had a cocktail or two, stopped and ask if I had any "doctor stuff." The closest I had was Sylvia Browne's Past Lives, Future Healing. He turned it over and read the back blurb. He noted the five other books by Browne I had. "Who's she - God?" he said. He picked up her Book of Dreams. "Dreams are bull...," he said. "I always have this one where I'm with this pretty girl who's about to kiss me - then somebody cuts the cord - every time." I knew the feeling. I remember having such a dream interrupted by a dorm fire drill. The dude (he must have reminded me of the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski) then noticed my books. He was skeptical that I'd written them. I turned one over and showed him my photograph, which my buddy Enrique took on the trading floor about five years ago. "The picture's uglier," he said. I threw my head back and laughed, thinking: "In vino veritas." Years ago a comment like that would have hurt me. I would have taken it to heart. Hopefully, this means I've grown a little as a human being. Anyway, the dude bought those two books, so the session wasn't a total loss, especially when minutes later another guy paused to see what was what. I pointed out the mysteries I had. "I have a girlfriend - that's all the mystery I need," he said, and went on his way. I again threw my head back and laughed. Just this morning I'd heard the opposite perspective while at the register at Stop n Shop. Adrian, the cashier, 65ish, and a middle aged customer were ridiculing the royal wedding, recalling their own nuptials. "If I'd've known then what I know now, I'd've killed him right there and been done with it," said Adrian of her husband, a sentiment with which the other woman agreed. I laughed at that too. The human comedy is endlessly entertaining.
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