I’m transported to 1978. Working in the book warehouse. Distracted by everything; music, cigarettes and men. In 1978 I turned 16 and joined the workforce. The music I listened to was mainly Top 40 with the influences of my siblings. Peter Frampton loomed large, though he was on his way out of my sphere of music. The Frampton backlash had begun.

Frampton Comes Alive was a gigantic smash and the pendulum swung in the opposite direction with the next album, I’m In You. I saw the tour in the summer of 1977. It was my second concert. The previous year I saw the first concert, Elton John at Madison Square Garden, I went to see Elton with Annemarie and Brian and a friend of Brian’s.

My brother Frank took me to see Peter Frampton the next year much to his endless embarrassment no doubt. R2D2 was a special surprise guest. Frank ran into some friends who were at the show and were heading downtown to a club called CBGBs to see some band called AC/DC. Frank figured that I was too young for something like that so after the show we went back to Lodi.

In 1978, turning 16 with working papers I was in the book warehouse fora few hours after school. I remember working alongside a guy with blonde hair from Elmira, NY and discussing the intricacies of the I’m In You album. Was that really Mick Jagger on background vocals? Who or what was the Rocky in Rocky’s Hot Club? Yes it was Mick Jagger. And Rocky was a dog.

It was a simpler time then. My enthusiasm for Peter Frampton faded away through no fault of his own. There were a lot of more interesting things happe in music and Pete Frampton did not make the cut. David Bowie threw him a lifeline years later but it was not enough to resuscitate his career.

Meanwhile, in the present day, the agency that placed me at the fruit stand may have dropped the ball. Since April of last year, I have been getting paid on Thursday. Today being Thursday I checked my bank account to fund my funds quite low with no deposit made.

I sent an email yesterday requesting some personal time off at the end of the year and received a email saying I had requested incorrectly. I needed to see the balance of personal time off that I had accumulated. They have access to this information I am sure. I replied with the information they requested.

After finding my direct deposit not going through, I sent them an email asking why happened. They have not answered yet. Perhaps the computers that handle payroll were off yesterday and could not process the fucking task they have been doing for the past year and a half. The Cupid stunts at the agency are quiet.

I suppose I should not have tempted fate when I stated that I really do like this job. More specifically, the fruit stand part of the job. The cupid stunt part I am quite disillusioned with.