I like my job. It’s a good job, it pays well, and I generally enjoy the company of my co-workers. And I’m talking about a little fruit stand that which I work at most of the time. There are people at that little fruit stand that are good at passing the buck.

Even though all signs point to this job being their responsibility they try to fob it off to somebody else and I sit there paying attention to their explanations and excuses. Now I’m generally at the front of the fruit stand so I deal with people that arrive.

And most people have an appointment just easily researched but not all the time and I have to scramble at the last minute to figure out who this person is going to see a lot of the time all they have is the first name. Today’s first name is Brandon. And unfortunately there are dozens of Brandon’s in the directory.

I have to be nice when talking to these coworkers and I can’t say “what the fuck is wrong with you?” so it is at the tip of my tongue and at the back of my throat and I remain silent. I am the low man on the totem pole and I have little or no support to back me up.

I came back from lunch early after going to lunch later. And when I came back I had a message from Yancy about the Brandon encounter. Brandon contacted Yancy with his side of events which are as follows:

Brandon: Candidate arrived at 14th floor at approx ~9:55am for a 10am interview
Me: She was there at 9:45. He did not show up until 10:05

Brandon: Receptionist asked who she was seeing, she said “Brandon” with no last name as Recruiting Team does not give out interviewer Last Names to Candidates for Privacy
Me: This is bullshit. Every other company gives the first and last names of whomever is interviewing.

Brandon: I was already on my way, arrived to 14th fl at ~9:57am to pick her up for the 10am interview
Me: He got there at 10:05

Brandon: Receptionist made a big deal out of Candidate not knowing the Last Name of the Interviewer (Me) (even though AFAIK this is standard fruit stand policy and will not be changed)
Me: Once again, bullshit

Brandon: Receptionist rudely criticized me in front of the candidate, and said I should’ve called to let reception know about this. As just an Interviewer, I don’t schedule these / not responsible for this, and the feedback should be routed to the Recruiting Team, but instead was directed to my individually and rudely.
Me: I suggested that he let me know who was coming so we (the fruit stand) would not have egg on our face. Nothing rude, just an adult chat which Brandon seems to be unaccustomed to.

Receptionist emphasized that I needed to add the candidate as a guest to some system, (VisitAdmin) which again as just an Interviewer this is the first I’ve ever heard of, and I don’t think is my responsibility – should be taken care of by Recruiting
Me: Brandon is basically saying ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ but then again he didn’t do anything right.

Brandon:All in all it felt uncomfortable:
1) made the candidate feel awkward that she was not prepared for not knowing her interviewer last name.
Me: I reassured her it was not her fault.

Brandon: 2) left a poor impression of fruit stand that we were not prepared (even though IMO we did everything correctly)
Me: The fruit stand is still prestigious. No fruits were bruised though Brandon’s 20 something ego did take a hit

Brandon: and 3) I personally did not feel like i was treated with adequate respect given the situation; and I believe the candidate observed this as well
Me: Classic deflection. I was not treated with respect! I want my Mom! I’m gonna tell!

If people did their jobs properly and informed the fruit stand front desk this could have all been avoided. But they didn’t.

Magnet and Steel popped into my head this morning. Good song, reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac which is just as well since Stevie Nicks sings background vocals and Lindsey Buckingham provides backing vocals as well as production duties. 1978 it was, and it was 48 friggin’ years ago. I was 14 going on 15, and my world was changing all around me as well as inside of me. For some reason, I picture the song being performed on the Mike Douglas Show.

The Roses of Kay Benkovitch. When I walk my route to the Path train in the morning I see a few rose bushes. I am reminded of Kay Benkovitch. The Benkovitch family lived across the street from my family. They were good people, solid and dependable. Kay was married to Jon and they had two sons, Bobby and Jay. Kay was sensitive, and may have had a nervous breakdown at some point in her life on Riverview Avenue.

Their house was next to the playground, and Kay had rose bushes on the side of the house where the playground was. Those roses would sometimes grow through the playground fence making them fair game for suburban kids of Riverview Avenue to smash them to bits. That is the memory I have when walking to the Path train and seeing the roses growing outward.

A Dream with Kate Dunn. Kate Dunn and Doug Maxson. Good people that I have not seen in about 40 years. Their son, whose name I cannot remember (Raphael), is in his thirties now. Doug & Kate were from Louisville, and were part of a minor migration to Hoboken in the eighties with Antietam and the various musicians involved.

One out of the three people in Antietam who are not Tim and Tara, I remember fondly, Mike Weinert. Doug was a good artist and a funny guy. Kate was the sensible one, yet sometimes a coconspirator in Doug’s shenanigans. I am friends with Tara on the social medias

In the dream I was in a room with Kate who I hadn’t seen in ages and we had a hug and I was taken aback by the thickness of Kate’s eyeglasses and how scratched up they appeared to be. It was as cordial as it ever was. Doug and Kate were close to my former roommate, Kevin, as well as the denizens of what used to be 923 Garden Street. I was just a satellite of all that I suppose.

My first space in Hoboken was an illegal loft at 1st St and Park Ave. I had a roommate named Nolan Poole and some guy who was in a band called the Malkotians. My part of the loft was next to an elevator shaft, filled with stagnant water where mosquitoes bred 10 months out of the year.

After a few weeks of living in the loft, I was swollen with mosquito bites. They asked me if I was going to stay and that day I said yes. The next day I announced I was moving out much to their dismay. Luckily, Doug & Kate were living in a local hotel in Hoboken and were looking for a spot. They did not mind the mosquito situation and moved in. It was a seamless transition it was.

So long ago, time does fly.

Now I am listening to David Bowie 1. Outside. I remember seeing David Bowie on Letterman in 1995. David and his band were performing The Hearts Filthy Lesson and it seemed a return to form for the Dame. The Dame is a name the UK Music press gave David Bowie and I thought it was funny. Not sure if David felt the same.

I do remember having a bit of a breakdown when working at Right Track Recording and playing this CD. I think it was during a song called The Motel. I just remember everything getting bleak for a while back then. Not one of my favorite tracks, and easily overlooked and passed over.

Now I am playing Cosmic Thing by the B-52s. I am almost done with one of those 33 ⅓ books about music. This one was about Cosmic Thing. It was enjoyable, written by a queer young man from Toronto, and he places everything in that context which is fine but just not the method I would use. I don’t like the term ‘queer’ anyhow, and bristle when I am called ‘queer’. Growing up it was derogatory and I preferred Gay. I still do.