“So what’s everyone watching? Shit, you’d think it was the Superbowl on right now.”
“All the channels are running the same stuff. How is a depressed soul supposed to get well around here?”
“We’ve all got our problems I suppose. It’s just fascinating when we discover the problems of other people are a hell’uv a lot worse than our own. Ain’t that right?”
“I guess.”
“My name is Joe. I’m an electrician. You’ve been nursing that water for the last fifteen minutes. Hey, at least you haven’t fallen off the wagon like yours truly.”
“Nice to meet you Joe.”
“What’s your name?”
“Milton.”
“Like the author?”
“I don’t know . . . did Milton write something?”
“He wrote whole loads of something. I suppose that’s a surprise to you that I would know something like that. Don’t let the tattoos fool ya’. I’ve read more books than a lot of Ph.D.s, and I’ve understood them too. That’s a nice and unique name, Milton. Where you going?”
“San Diego.”
“San Diego. I was stationed there in the Navy. Be - A- U - tiful. I was flying to L.A. myself.”
“Maybe we’re on the same flight?”
“I don’t think so. I missed mine, and I don’t think I’m going to get out on another today.”
“Just not in the stars for anyone to get anywhere today.”
“Oh, I dunno. My wife got on the flight all right.”
“Your wife got on the flight, but you missed it?”
“Sort of crazy huh? While they were closing up the plane, I was dreaming about her in a stall of that bathroom back there. I haven’t been sleeping to good these days, and I just started snoozing on the crapper.”
“You slept through boarding?”
“Well Milton, to be specific, I dreamt through boarding. I dreamt one of those dreams where you realize you are in a dream while you’re dreaming it. How often do those come around? Well, I took advantage of this freedom. As we are going nowhere and sitting here mano to mano, you don’t mind if I explain?”
“Feel free.”
“Well, the dream started very badly. I hadn’t yet come to the realization that I was dreaming so that means then you are the toy to the whims of your subconscious. I was in a hospital and my wife was on one of them gurneys. She’s a looker but it’s sort of hard to tell with all them nurses and doctors and tubes and needles. I knew she was dying. It was then that I noticed a light switch on the wall. You know what a light switch means?”
“You can turn on and off the lights?”
“You can make what you are watching go away. I flipped it, since that was the only power I had over anything in the whole room. I could make the light go away, maybe make it all stop, but when I flipped the switch, nada . . . nothing. It was at this point that I realized this was a dream; even though it felt as real as day, it was all in my head. That is empowering information Milton to know that you can shape your reality, which is exactly what I did. That second my wife jumped up on that gurney. She was wearing this Mexican dress, you know the long skirts with all the colors, and she was spinning like a top, round and round, and the doctors were swinging their stethoscopes, and the nurses were shaking their ventilation bags like rattling maracas. Her skirt kept going round and round and higher and higher.”
“What happened next.”
“Nothing. I woke up against the side of the stall. I’m guessing my plane was already on the runway.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll reconnect tomorrow.”
“Maybe. Bartender, another shot for this hopeless alcoholic here. You?”
“No thanks. Doctor’s orders.”
“You look healthy, kind of an athlete type. You can’t already have a bad liver.”
“Going to San Diego to have myself evaluated for a liver transplant. I’ve got too much iron in my body. My boss thinks I’m going on vacation. Can’t afford to go on long term medical leave and lose my benefits, not with a kid on the way.”
“I don’t think I’ve met a person more torn in two than you Milton. You’ve got a bum liver and you’ve got a baby in the oven. I’d be happy if I were you.”
“Yeah, I think I am, all things taken into account.”
“Hey, not many people drinking in here. Everybody’s watching TV. This must be lousy for business.”
“That tower just fell. See all those people running from the dust?”
“Bartender, given the grave nature of current events, I need to run from my previous sobriety. Oh, look suddenly everybody is thirsty. ”
“What flight were you booked on?”
“I was supposed to be on the one that crashed into that tower that just vanished.”
“Your . . . wife . . . ahhhh . . ,”
“Damage done. She passed from a defective ticker four days ago. The docs called it sudden cardiac death. She was in a casket with the luggage. You know what’s ironic?”
“I’m sorry . . . this has got to be, I mean . . . I can’t imagine . . ,”
“What’s ironic is that I was flying her back to L.A. to be buried at the request of her mom and brother. Big Russian Orthodox Jesus freaks who won’t permit cremation. His brother and mom moved from St. Petersburg as soon as we were legally hitched. The brother is someone like John McEnroe or something.”
“A tennis player?”
“Yeah.”
“Well I guess that’s all water under the bridge now.”
“No, Vodka. Bartender? Another one por favor. I’m sorry Milton, this morning has been fucking with my nerves. I didn’t catch your profession.”
“I’m a New York City firefighter Joe.”
“Ahhh . . . .(moments pass, more running to and fro on TV screens, vacations get cancelled in a heartbeat) . . . Milt you sure you don’t want that drink?”
“I’ll take the nearest light switch instead.”