Wednesday, August 12. It was a Thursday 50 years ago when my sister Annemarie took me to my first rock concert. Elton John at Madison Square Garden. It was a graduation gift. My world revolved around Elton back in 1976.

My bedroom had posters on the walls, and my brother Frank was supplying me with Elton records. Annemarie saw Elton on Thanksgiving 1976, the concert where John Lennon made an appearance for 3 songs. I recall Annemarie waking me up back then and telling me that bass players were sexy.

She promised that she would take me to see Elton John the next time he came around. So in 1976, Elton was playing 7 nights at Madison Square Garden, which was a record at that time. It was not consecutive nights, though; the old girl needed a night off now and then.

Billy Connolly opened the show in banana-shaped boots singing a parody of Rhinestone Cowboy which was a hit at the time, Billy sang it as Half Stoned Cowboy. I did not pay any attention to Billy Connolly, I was there for Elton.

It was also the first time I saw people smoking pot, mainly in bowls. I am not sure if Brian or Annemarie partook, though they both did at that time; they might not have wanted to be seen getting high by me. Elton appeared at the top of the stage dressed as the Statue of Liberty, torch and all.

Then they launched into Grow Some Funk of Your Own from their latest LP, Rock of the Westies. I was disappointed that it was not the Elton John Band that I loved; Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson had been fired and replaced by new faces that I did not care for. I liked them, but I wanted the guys who had been playing for years.

I got over it; I had no choice. Elton was in top form. Maybe I had a contact high but most of the night was a blur. Elton was the orange-haired ant running around a piano ringed in neon. The only people I recognized besides Elton were Davey Johnstone (who I met 25 years later) and Ray Cooper.

Kiki Dee came out and sang her hit, I Got the Music In Me and her duet with Elton Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. It was the beginning of a change for Elton though. He was soon to come out as bisexual and I was also discovering my own nascent sexuality. My world was about to turn upside down.

The next day I think I had a mini-breakdown of sorts. Annemarie was going to see Jefferson Starship at the Nassau Coliseum and I really wanted to go see Elton again, but that was not going to happen.

I remember being in tears in the bathroom on Riverview Avenue dealing with my hormones and desire to go to a concert again. Plus, High School was looming on the horizon and I had no idea what to expect.

Overall, I did not know much of anything.

Tuesday in August. It is the 11th day. Things are quiet at the fruit stand as usual. The main fruit stand is understaffed. So much so that Yancy, who has returned from a family visit, sent me a Slack and wondered if I was busy because to Yancy IT DID NOT SEEM LIKE I WAS DOING ANY WORK TODAY.

If Yancy would take a minute and check the folder he would see a good number of fruit stand requests have been filled by yours truly. It was off-putting for my supervisor to claim I was not working. Yancy talks about a two hour window to fulfill these requests but more often than not, they are completed minutes after receiving them.

At 8AM I am generally starting before Janis, Violet, Kimberly and start filling the requests that come in after 5PM. I try to get in before 8AM and when I am at the main fruit stand I notice that others are not in until after 8AM, except for maybe Violet who is a contracted employee just like me, not a full time employee like Janis or Kimberly or Mr Kool Aid himself, Yancy.

Yancy is almost always in when I get in. At my fruit stand I usually have 10-20 minutes of getting the day started. At the main fruit stand the day starts at 8AM. I have to admit it pissed me off, Yancy thinking I was not doing anything.

I also have to remember, not to trust anyone. Jimmy Chile is trustworthy and perhaps a few others but overall I am not sure beyond Jimmy Chile.

Pam. Pam is a cooking spray that came out in the 1970s. It was created so that food won’t stick to the pan when cooking. My mother refused to buy it. She found out at work from Lucy Ardizzone or Barbara DeLuca that kids where huffing cans of Pam and getting high. I had never heard of it and never had an inkling to do such a thing. She listened to these women as they did their business in the ladies room of the HBJ warehouse.

Presently I am in the midst of an online discussion with Mike. His beloved Wade needed $40 and Mike asked if I could wire it. I did. I figured that Wade would pay back once he got his money. But Wade sent the money to Mike who has it in his wallet and has been unable to get it back to me due to his parole officer.

I expressed how dumb this whole thing was, Wade should have just rewired the money back to me but no, it got stupid and Mike is all ‘I can’t deal with you right now’. It got worse from there. I do feel like a sucker. When I had ‘those’ feelings for Mike back then I went out of my way to make him happy.

Those feelings subsided and I still did things that were somewhat extraordinarily kind. And I never really got anything in return. Not that I was looking for it but it did not go unnoticed especially in moments like I find myself in now.

Mike just brought up the incompatibility of Gemini (him) and Virgo (me). He believes that and I do not. Why bother continuing this friendship? I’ll leave that on him.