Monday, November 30, 2009
Crosstown by taxi in rain
Crosstown by taxi in rain. The driver had a gym bag on the passenger seat. He was talking on his personal cellphone. Hung up & said to me, "I gotta stop at the corner for a second." He pulled up in front of a corner store, opened the passenger side window, & a guy walked over & handed the cabbie some money, the cabbie reached in the bag & handed the guy a few packs of Newports. Had a little side business going, but if you want the cheaper ciggies, you have to wait until he's driving in your part of town. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't see anything.
At the clinic, the receptionist told me my shrink had opened his own waiting room away from the main one. The main room had Oprah on TV. I went to the new room, no TV, a woman took my appointment paper & handed me a card that said she was a licensed social worker. She didn't seem to be doing any social work. "We have coffee," she said, pointing to a drip machine & pot I could smell contained old & burnt brew. Fortunately, I'd brought a Smithsonian magazine. I was the last patient. We rushed through. I couldn't identify the WQXR classical music he plays softly. Game I play every appointment. He asked me if was drinking. He always asks that. "I don't drink," I said once more. Never been my thing. It was my mom's thing, which is why he asks, & it didn't give her the personality of Elwood P. Dowd. The last time I was anywhere near tipsy was three years ago, slurping champagne from a bottle at the WFMU Christmas party in celebration of a staffer's engagement. I remember the most recent time I was more or less drunk: A warm summer night in the early 90's, drinking Long Island ice teas on the balcony of a friend's condo in South Brunswick, a neighbor yelled at us to shut the hell up. I slept it off on her couch & the next morning her husband, who had conked out early & snored loudly, made silver dollar pancakes.
Afterward, I walked the 15 minutes downtown in a drizzle to the Main Library. I had a list of three books, all available, checked out a total of five, walked across the street & caught the #52 bus, which drops me a block from my apt. I should use that bus more often. The 6:15 bus, near the start of its route, was nearly empty. If I get on the wrong #52, it takes an alternate route away from my neighborhood, & I'd have to get off as far away as the walk I was avoiding. Also, the little, clean Dunkin' Donuts by that stop near the main library & courthouse closed & moved two blocks away into a gas station across from the hospital, Same conscientious owner as the regular DD by the Branch Library. It'll do fine at the new location.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
At the clinic, the receptionist told me my shrink had opened his own waiting room away from the main one. The main room had Oprah on TV. I went to the new room, no TV, a woman took my appointment paper & handed me a card that said she was a licensed social worker. She didn't seem to be doing any social work. "We have coffee," she said, pointing to a drip machine & pot I could smell contained old & burnt brew. Fortunately, I'd brought a Smithsonian magazine. I was the last patient. We rushed through. I couldn't identify the WQXR classical music he plays softly. Game I play every appointment. He asked me if was drinking. He always asks that. "I don't drink," I said once more. Never been my thing. It was my mom's thing, which is why he asks, & it didn't give her the personality of Elwood P. Dowd. The last time I was anywhere near tipsy was three years ago, slurping champagne from a bottle at the WFMU Christmas party in celebration of a staffer's engagement. I remember the most recent time I was more or less drunk: A warm summer night in the early 90's, drinking Long Island ice teas on the balcony of a friend's condo in South Brunswick, a neighbor yelled at us to shut the hell up. I slept it off on her couch & the next morning her husband, who had conked out early & snored loudly, made silver dollar pancakes.
Afterward, I walked the 15 minutes downtown in a drizzle to the Main Library. I had a list of three books, all available, checked out a total of five, walked across the street & caught the #52 bus, which drops me a block from my apt. I should use that bus more often. The 6:15 bus, near the start of its route, was nearly empty. If I get on the wrong #52, it takes an alternate route away from my neighborhood, & I'd have to get off as far away as the walk I was avoiding. Also, the little, clean Dunkin' Donuts by that stop near the main library & courthouse closed & moved two blocks away into a gas station across from the hospital, Same conscientious owner as the regular DD by the Branch Library. It'll do fine at the new location.
Labels: Elizabeth NJ, mental health, what I'm reading
