A Little White Lie

Sometimes if we don't do anything, we help more than if we do a lot. We call that non-action. It is like the calm person on a small boat in a storm. That person does not have to do much, just to be himself, and the situation can change.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
BEING PEACE

Twenty-five years ago today

April 20, 1986
Saturday

There were tentative plans of going to the wine country today but I awoke at 10:20AM and quickly telephoned Mark Landreth. I had forgotten my car was still at the 24 Hour Nautilus gym parking lot in San Leandro. Mark actually reminded me of this fact!
Mark said, "You know—I can pick you up and take you to your car."
"That would be great. Maybe we can go to Santa Cruz after…since it is a Saturday."
Mark replied, "Okay, let's do it."

I called Amy with a little white lie.
"Hi Amy, I just wanted to tell you that I have to go pick up my car via my bike, so the wine outing isn't possible."
"Uh, but why?"
"Well, I got so sick last night and my car was left there so it's just not going to work this time."
That was that.

I did lay out in my postage-stamp sized backyard on my lounge chair, waiting for Mark Landreth to arrive. He finally came and it seemed to take forever to get to my car. It took even longer to get to Santa Cruz. We left San Lorenzo at noon and arrived and parked in Santa Cruz at approximately three o'clock! The traffic was bad. A couple of gals from San Jose entertained us. There were some other gals from San Mateo on a truck who were waving, flirting and communicating with us on the freeway too.

We found the San Mateo truck girls on the beach and sat near them. We simply lounged. I ate a Brutus Burger and a root-beer. Mark and I ate dinner at the Ideal Fish Company (good grilled fish). We left at 9PM and I didn't bet home to Alameda until 11:30PM.

Mark and I had a good time this weekend. Mark's my chum. He made me laugh at times. He is fun to be with.

"Time is elastic, isn't it? Moments can last forever, or else evaporate instantly. Time is really a function of our own view of the world."
-John Katzenbach
THE ANALYST