On Leave
Susie shops, but I doing all the
buying
On
Leave
On Friday we all checked
out of the hotel. Lothlorien and Patrick headed off to Paddington Station; they
headed to the West Country. They are taking a week to do a 70-mile walk from
Penzance to Portsmouth, or some such. I headed to nearby Islington and dropped
off my things at the Mucciolo's house.
I
then headed back into town and had a take-away lunch with Danny, Susie, and some
of Susie's co-workers. It's amazing how bad management is universal and knows no
boundaries. We had lunch in Soho Square, sitting on the lawn. I munched away
quietly while listening to tales of corporate
woe.
Susie and I headed for book stores
while Danny was busy elsewhere on an appointment. We must've gone to every other
bookstore on Charing Cross Road. Susie was reluctant to buy anything, and like a
good deflectionist, picked up books and said, "Look Seth, this is so pretty, and
just 4 pounds." She also said, "This is a great book and I could've gotten it
here for half the price." I wound up buying things in four or five stores. I
used our time later at the Pillars of Hercules, a pub, to rearrange my
purchases. Susie bought NOTHING.
Susie
later told us the story of one of her contemporaries who's never left Saskatoon
for any great length of time, and was saying how he "never helps his parents
with the harvest." That's sort of the country version of not helping clean out
the gutters or something. I probably wouldn't last in Saskatoon Harvest Time for
very long. They also have dreadful winters that require triple-glazed windows.
Personally, the only triple glaze I have ever seen is on pastry. Those
below-zero temps are not for me.
I headed
to Gay's the Word after parting with D&S. I had been there earlier in the
week, and went back to buy two more books that I could've bought at Dillon's or
Blackwell's; but I want to support small, gay stores. I had a long chat with Jim
McSweeney, whom I'd interviewed for LGNY in April. He recommended some fab books
and I bought 'em all.
For God's sake,
SOMEONE must stir the local economy.
Posted: Fri - July 9, 1999 at 02:30 AM