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Friday, February 3, 2012

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/3

Yesterday a Russian gentleman approached and said he had five boxes worth of books in his native tongue for me. Today he returned with ten. A lot of them originally held Pampers. Maybe that's symbolic of something. I opened up four, putting two on the ledge that encloses the garden that runs the entire grounds of the six-floor building where I usually set up. Another was positioned right in front of the makeshift table I build each day with the milk boxes in which I carry the books. In other words, they were where no one could miss them. I guess the right Russians didn't pass today. I didn't sell any until the last minute, even offering three for a dollar. It was frustrating, as I had hoped to have less boxes to haul. My trunk is so full I could fit only one of them in it. I piled them in the interior, but couldn't risk leaving them there overnight, as thieves will break car windows for loose change these days and might mistake the boxes as carrying actual Pampers. I carried the two smallest boxes to my apartment. As I'd hope, Frankie, our stellar porter, was around, mopping up the lobby. He let me use his hand cart, which cut the required trips from at least six to two. As I was maneuvering the cart through pedestrian and vehicle traffic, I was reminded of my summer jobs as a stock boy at Gimbels and EJ Korvette in the late '60's, when I was young and strong. By the time I was done today, my arms were so tired and my back was sore. Fortunately, I had enough closet space to store everything. There is only one worry - bed bugs. Any itch the next few weeks will remind of the possibility. I had to take the chance. As the saying goes: No risk, no reward. Spasibo, sir.
I thank the folks at Synovate surveys for the gift certificate. Now if only amazon would discount copies of Close to the Edge so I could buy some and make a profit on them. What's that other saying: Good things come to those who wait?
Now playing on the Live 365 stream: the Beach Boys' Surfin' USA, which was their first hit, I believe, or was it Surfin' Safari? It was a long time ago, of that I'm sure.
Read Vic's stories, free:
http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature

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