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Do you think I'm at all tongue-tied or tremulous? Hell no...
We're so different--the rich and me. Sure, everybody knows about the exchange of comments Hemingway and Fitzgerald supposedly had. So it's the lifestyles mainly. I ride buses, walk and take taxis. The rich wouldn't be caught in such "descension." Maybe the taxi occasionally. Never the other two. For one reason, the rich don't have to, as in are not obligated. They have plenty of luxury sedans in which to Mercedes-Benz around in. Another reason is that our city is or can be dangerous. Moreso for the rich than for me for their clothes and accessories are very fine. They exude and smell of money. But actually, big cities can be risky for anyone. Whether Chicago, London or Tokyo, you have to try to be careful, to stay alert. My roots are far simpler. Forget about new rich. I'm still an old poor. These rich seem to know how to sit just so and which wines to order and drink. Those things. Silverware, of course, is easy to figure out if you're not blind. I mean, the salad fork looks like a salad fork, doesn't it? The soupspoon, etc. Oh well, I remember starting out in my early twenties concerned about these things--wine, fork, spoon, posture, etc. I don't remember when I lost that concern. I just did. I guess I realized it was an awful lot of work to be just so and "perfect" as regards all those things. Maybe I realized I was an incurable peasant, sort of like Nikita Khrushchev without the political glory/savvy. Wasn't he a peasant made good? He seems to be dressed like one in some of those early sixties pictures. Or are they photos? Sometimes you aren't sure which word to use. One can offend without wishing to. When you do you have to see about making amends. My sister said something the other day via e-mail that struck me as rather touching. She said love--that that was what it was all about anyway. Something to that effect. I agreed. I'm at a time in my life when I notice those words more closely. As a young person, I would probably not have paid attention. Love and sales. They do indeed make the world go round. What about you? I hope you'll be fortunate enough to find love and when you do, hold on tight. P.S. As I write this piece, I sit in one of the poshest clubs in our fair(but polluted) city. (Why I sit here is another piece of writing.) Do you think I'm at all tongue-tied or tremulous? Hell no. I'm enjoying the tasty fish-in-season dinners and the squeaky-clean swimming pool!
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