1450 days remain or less
he thought only his family -- he had that habit of thinking ‘only’ a sneaking prejudice -- he thought only his family had conceived of Reggae Friday and celebrated it by playing its its the music and scribbling at the onset of penned letters or in light-transmissions on the internet and through texts
Happy
Reggae Friday!
his ‘only’ thought became a
shambles when he walked into the health club(yes he honored their perception – to
him it was a gym) after a lengthy absence and Bob Marley greeted him singing Jammin
over the PA systemWha?
he crossed the wide lobby to the
check-in desk and as he scanned his membership card he said to the clerk Mornin Andrew
Whats with the reggae
You dont care for it
On the contrary I dig it
Ya mon its Reggae Friday
(damn should have patented it ten years ago) Yeah
man It is
Where you been mon Its been awhile
Yeah Dont remind me Im no Houdini Fought my way
out of a web of ill health but held up the gym in my mind throughout it as a
goal to get back to And here I am
Been a tough climb Really wish Id been Houdini
Sorry to hear that But welcome back mon
JesusAndrew he laughed Ya gotta brush up on your Jamaican
Andrew laughed
Not irie
he laughed again No Im not just having a little fun
Yes I follow
Oh by the way would you please stop over at membership
before you go upstairs Something funny
flashed on the screen when you scanned-in
Funny
Im sure its no problem Read that your account is on freeze
Isnt freeze something Id request
Yes it is
I havent
Im sure Jennie in membership .
.
. . The blonde
Yes But theyre all blondes
Yeah he feigned his head to the bank
of offices across the lobby The blonde
in the office
Yes Jennie is the blonde in the office Thats her
Okay Andrew Ill talk with Jennie So good to see you again
Good seeing you too
he crossed the lobby between café
tables and chairs and behind the first wall at his left holding a flat screen
televising non-stop sports was Membership
Jennies office door was partially opened not that he couldnt see her bent
over her desk at paperwork through its glass panel
he rapped softly on the glass
she didnt start she wouldnt she lifted her head let her eyes focus then
nodded for him to enter
Jennie
Yes
Hi Im . .
. . I know who you are
Oh he was surprised Andrew said I should speak to you about a
freeze on my account
Hmm she turned quickly to her computer her
fingers faster and breezed his name in I see
I dont I didnt request my account be frozen
No It seems not
Theres usually a ten dollar fee is associated with a freeze request and you havent been assessed a fee
Nor would I pay for something I
didnt ask for
You No I
suspect you wouldnt
Correct Does it say who froze it and when
Thats not important
Its important to me
Okay Kathy
I
know Kathy Workman Comp Kathy Yes
Yes
And when
Mid-December
Okay Thank you
So were good now Jennie I can go workout
Yes Were good
Great Im backBack in the Saddle again
Jennie blinked
Back in the Saddle Aerosmith
she shook her head Im sorry I dont know it
Ah A generational thing Im sure
Yes Probably
Anyway thank you for your help
Jennie Its good to see you again
Youre welcome Nice to see you too
Thanks Soon to be an eyesore again
she laughed out loud
Oh goodness the ice-queen has thawed a touch shed always been for as long as hed known of
her closed unreceptive odd attributes he thought particularly since
she headed up membership she obviously
prefers cloistered in her office she
certainly wasnt the face of the health club
And for a blonde not his cup of
tea she was attractive
as he began up the staircase to the mens lockerroom what he recognised the most about her during
their interaction wasnt her
taciturn way but rather how gaunt she
was someone may think slender the last he saw her she was pleasantly
fleshy had round soft curves womanly though now she was angular
changing into his workout shorts
and tshirt he entertained I wonder if
she hasnt been well too
it was a good beginning
he was deliberate
he refamiliarised himself with
the Nautilus equipment worked out its manipulation and set weights he was
comfortable beginning at again as he had so many times before some might say too many times before and those he considered pessimists
or fatalists and had little tolerance for Comon he
taunted them Lifes a fuckin game hurtles are part of it some you see and leap
over others cut your legs out from under you and you go down hard So you fuckin get up dont whine about it he gave pessimists almost as wide a berth as
he gave businessmen he had no time to
waste with either
then exhausted a good exhaustion he returned down the stairs into the lobby
and casting a look towards membership he saw another gal he knew Christy
sitting at one of the two exposed desks
she saw him
they waved to each other at the
same time
she stood as he crossed again through
the café tables and chairs(the glass-paneled door was shut) and he saw too that
she was gaunt(hmm Andrew now that he
thought about it was slimmer than he remembered)
Christy How are you he said he
shook her hand
Im fine Its so good seeing you again Its been awhile
It has Ive not been well I hope that will suffice Either Andrew or Jennie can fill you in if
youd like Youll excuse me but youre trimnot that I didnt like what I saw before
I have Everyone here has been so supportive It was a business decision
she said
Business
Wellyes This is a health club You would expect a health club to portray her hands worked the air between them .
.
. . Healthy people
Yes Exactly
Christy was pleasantly fleshy had the round soft curves as Jennie did
So
corporate decided across the board all employees . .
. . Are to be healthy or
fit as they saw
Yes
Hmm Anyway I saw you so I wanted to say hello and well
be seeing more of each other again
Oh wonderful I have to say your absence was glaring We talked among ourselves here if anyone had
seen youFacebook you dont have Facebookyour
not on social media nobody knew anything
about you
No Im not on book of faces Did anybody check the obits
her face went slack
he laughed Oh dont be upset Obits are social media too Im sure you could have
entered my name and not seeing it rest assured that no news is good news even if you languish not knowing
I suppose
Well for future purposes perhapsand therell be next
times Im brushing myself off
Good for you
Thank you So nice to see you again Christy
Christ he thought as he walked
home Business has gotten too gawddamn
intrusive telling people what to do in
their private lives
And people
swallow it
Suggest yeah by all means
But
otherwise back off
Whats good for business isnt necessarily
whats good for Americans*
1339, Friday,
27 1. 17
0941, Sunday,
29 1. 17
1014, Monday,
30 1. 17
Bob Marley Jammin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFRbZJXjWIA
Aerosmith Back in the Saddle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX8GG3dnsp8
*Cool Cal, President Calvin Coolidge: “ . . the chief business of the American
people is business.”
