‘OK,’ she said, ‘your turn. It’s your turn to tell me your story.’
‘I’ve been thinking about this actually,’ I began. ‘I took accounting in college and barely passed, though strangely enough it’s one of the professional skills I utilize now. Form a JV and take half your debt off the balance sheet. How’s that for jargon? I learned a little bit along the way until I was competent, whereas CPAs or CFAs seemed to have forgotten more than they ever learned. Then again, we didn’t learn any grammar from Mrs Davala, beyond the present and past tense, and we’re able to compile complete sentences. If she had spent more time teaching and less time complaining that Orson Welles didn’t age well … so to speak. I think she taught one class through a series of flashbacks.’
‘Rosebud,’ she snicker-sneed.
‘Well, he married a contessa, so don’t cry for him. Which is no excuse for CPFAs,’ I continued. ‘We lived outside the city for a while, in a town with a lot to offer, but you had to know how to find it, just like London, or have I told you that already? I’ve ended up meeting a lot of actors, artists, art and film buffs, too, and their partners and patrons, though I’ve lost contact with most of them. However, I haven’t had a reason to bring them up until you jogged my memory. One I had a lot of respect for because in addition to his love for art and his conviction that this was in the heart of the beholder, he pointed out that “composting” can work two ways. Foods which contain microscopic amounts of toxins can be highly harmful to human consumption through accumulation, and with some substances, no dilution, dissipation or evaporation will occur. It’s like the long term repercussions of cadmium in phosphate fertilizer, mined from sedimentary rocks. Oh sorry, leave business at the office, don’t bring it home. But where is he now. I was introduced through a comrade who I thought was his girlfriend. She didn’t think art was once and for all in the eye of the beholder. Fortunately, I didn’t jump to any conclusions to their faces. Well it takes all kinds as they said in British sitcoms in the 80s. I’m interested in spirituality and mindfulness, or “kindfulness” as Krista Desjarlais calls it, which makes me smile, though most who practice are wedded to a small set of philosophies, a narrow theory of religion or strain of yoga, or is it style of yoga, whereas I’m more open minded and prefer to examine both the pros and cons. It makes having a discussion more interesting if they are open minded, difficult if they are not. What’s your job again at the law firm, or that’s it for now?’
This is like Adam 12, isn’t it? They spend their quiet mornings in the cruiser debating what to have for lunch, but they don’t get to have lunch, because there’s always an important APB to attend to, and all too soon the credits roll. Funny how Adam 12 humanized cops for a while, and in the 21st century social critics argue in favor of unfunding police forces, and for sound reasons, but what breed of human being would sign up to be a politician or policeman? The public’s comprehension comes and goes in waves. Police brutality is equal opportunity. Second, the phrase <police corruption> is redundant.