Monthly Archives: December 2010

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

1 Reply

It’s a new day and quite an eventful 24 hours. It didn’t start out too easy since I closed the store on Friday night and had to open the store on Saturday morning. All part of switching hours with Calvin. The day was a good one, I sold about $6000.00 worth of merchandise.

It wasn’t easy, there were a few tire kickers that stopped by, people that take up a lot of time and energy and never buy anything. You never can tell though so one has to go through the whole process in order to get to the disappointment when they say they’ll think about it and walk out the door.

Calvin said he didn’t care if I left an hour earlier, at 7PM instead of 8PM. The store really slows to a crawl once night falls. I’m sure they did alright with 3 on staff, no need for 4 people. I left the store at 7:00 and was soon on a downtown train to Madison Square Garden.

At 7:11 I sent a text to Roda, letting him know I was at 33rd and 8th Avenue. We had a plan to take a quick stroll before the show so we could get a little jazzy for the concert. These days the sweet smell of cannabis no longer wafts through the arenas or any other venues.

I waited about 30 minutes when I heard from Roda. He was held up by the Path train and I walked over to 32nd and 7th to meet up with him. He almost fired up a one hit before going in, but I stopped him, pointing out a few police officers about 10 feet behind us.

We walked to the turnstiles, Roda giving me a printed ticket as well as half a tablet. I trust Roda implicitly so I swallowed it and we made our way to our seats, buying $5.00 bottles of water so that we wouldn’t be dehydrated during the show. Being impetuous, we drank the water too fast and eventually had to get 2 more bottles.

Larry Graham and Graham Central Station opened the show and after One in a Million You, his big solo hit, Prince came out and joined him for a Sly & the Family Stone medley.

Meanwhile the pill started to take effect and there was a mild panic within me, my first instinct was to get out of there, but the voice of reason spoke to me, reminding me that I was with Roda and he wouldn’t let anything happen to me, plus it was all good vibrations all around. Roda sensed something was amiss and asked if I was OK and I assured him I was.

Prince hit the stage after being introduced by Sinbad and soon we were off on a trip through nothing but hits from the former Imp of the Perverse. Prince was astounding as we sat and watched from our seats right above the floor. Let’s Go Crazy, 1999, Raspberry Beret, Nothing Compares 2 U, Uptown, Kiss, U Got the Look (with Sheila E, who looked positively HOT), The Beautiful Ones, Purple Rain. Sheila E also sang The Glamorous Life and A Love Bizarre.

Though Purple Rain isn’t one of my favorite Prince songs, the version he did last night was incredible. It flew by all so fast, perhaps due to our altered consciousness. The last song had the stage filled with celebrities like Spike Lee, Whoopi Goldberg, Sinbad, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys and quite a few more. It was over by 11:00 and we took our time getting out of the Garden.

On the sidewalk opposite the Garden we ran into my neighbor Claire who also saw the show and was headed back to Montauk. That was a surprise, though I had a feeling I would run into someone I knew.

Roda and I made it back to Hoboken safe and sound and we spent the next hours just hanging out, listening to Prince songs and drinking beers while finally getting jazzy. Really a fun evening with a really good friend. I am quite a lucky bastard.

THIS IS THE SHOW




Blurry cellphone pic from the Garden


I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby

Leave a reply

And it’s Friday and I’m tired. Been a long day. Did not sleep well. I repeat, Did not sleep well. My pillows did their best to make for an uneasy night of sleep and when I woke when Bill was kissing me goodbye, I couldn’t really go back to sleep since my shoulder was troubling me.

It’s fine now, but at some point during the night the pillows decided to do whatever they wanted to do and what they wanted to do was make my sleep uncomfortable. They succeeded and I eventually surrendered the bed to them.

I shuffled about, cold once again, but not as cold as it’s been. Today was in the 30 degree area so that made it somewhat warmer. Still it was cold as I waited for the bus into the city. I missed the 11:15 bus which I’ve been taking instead of avoiding since it’s been so damn cold outside.

The 11:30 bus came rolling up in it’s own time and we rolled towards the tunnel. Once inside the tunnel we sat and waited for a few minutes, an absolute standstill. After that it was smooth sailing about one hundred yards into the bus terminal where I made my way down to the post office dropping off some Christmas cards and Shutter Island off to Netflix land. Shutter Island, a big ‘meh’.

I was on time at the cigar shop and immediately went to work. I found out the computers crashed for about 3 hours yesterday, putting a major dent in holiday sales. Well we have some cheap, old computers that when the sales process is going slow, I remark to the customer, apologizing and saying that we bought the computers at the Soviet Union garage sale a few years back. That usually gets a chuckle.

The day was topsy turvy. I couldn’t get a grip on some customers despite my trying to connect. Two times I would be working with customers who didn’t know what they wanted and as I tried to steer them to a product they might like they just didn’t get it.

A co-worker nearby would see what was going on and essentially repeat whatever it was that I said and the co-worker would make the connection. I’d still get the sale but for some reason they would not hear what I was saying, but they would hear the Bradley or Sean. It was frustrating and I decided not to talk to any customers from there on in.

I made it to the bus terminal from the cigar shop in 18 minutes, 10 seconds. Puffing on a cigar and listening to I Am the Walrus, Baby You’re a Rich Man, Flying, Dear Prudence and Revolution 1. Not my usual stomping, getting the hell out of my way music, but it was enjoyable regardless and I was able to catch the 10:30 bus.

Sorry I did not take Harpy’s call as I was trying to close the store but I can’t afford any distractions in that last half hour of closing. Harpy was the one who hipped me to the surprise news that Captain Beefheart aka Don Van Vliet passed away after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.

Captain Beefheart, Don Van Vliet

Oh I might not write tomorrow since I am going to see Prince at Madison Square Garden. Sunday I will write. I promise I will.