Monday, May 17, 2010

Errand Boy

This is a message for The Earl of Nottingham from the King of Chicago. "You can be an Errand boy for Rock and Roll."



15 serving 30

Martin was back at the tennis courts and challenged me to a game where we keep score. I wish I could go back in time and play him 50 years ago...when he was my age. Jesus. 50 years is a long time and I thought 40 years was a long time. I was reading the Portsmouth obituaries and saw a face that looked like Martin and the guy was from Newfoundland. What the hell? But it wasn't Martin. The dead man was 96 years old and also served in the navy. Something tells me Newfoundlanders have good genes because that's simply unusual for two 90 + year old men to be living in Portsmouth. Martin must've been a good tennis player because his instincts are still there but he has to watch the ball bounce because his feet can't get him there in time. He's come to terms with it. After our single set match he did what most 90 year old men do: go sailing. I'll have to go out with him sometime to see him in his natural element...if my back is up to it.

The Labor Hall was a depressing place this morning. A man was snoring on the table while I read the help wanted jobs. Another guy was limping around talking about pawning his bicycle for $15 to buy pain killers for an infected injury. On the television was "Troy" with Brad Pitt, a terrible piece of shit film that everyone ignored. The pretty Greeks could not possibly shine on our collective misery of poverty, hacking coughs, limps and neck pains. The phone was silent and I finally walked out with no fanfare. In fact, because I was on the list before some of the other guys I thought I heard a sigh of relief. It's a waiting game like hitchhiking. The longer you wait, the better your chances are to make $30. More than likely the sound I heard was someone's last breath.
If I can't work then I might as well play tennis.
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Man in the Van by Oggy Bleacher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.