I used to see Wayne daily as I walked through the office at my
old job delivering contracts and whatnot to my coworkers. He’d be standing
there at the front desk checking in with the receptionist, climbing a ladder to
reach the overhead fluorescent lights that are always blowing out, or running
around to each of the thermostats located on the 4th floor making sure the
temperature is “just right” for all the suits rushing past. Wayne always had a
smile on his face – I truly cannot think of a time that I saw him without – and
it would brighten when I walk in the room. Sometimes I wondered if it
was me he liked, or if it was just an ear that he was looking
for, but regardless, I could not help but return the smile. Each time
I appeared, a new story started. Most days, I didn't even realize he
was talking to me or speaking any words of interest until a few sentences
in, when something would catch my attention and my interest would peak.
….mumble, mumble….lived in New
York City, over there off 8th Avenue and 34th Street. …mumble….you know how
people do stand-up or theater? I used to, in my spare time.
This is where the New York accent
would begin, most of Wayne’s words ending before the last sound would actually
come out.
"There was this skit we used to do – there were
four of us. We acted as if we were in an elevator. We had a Hell’s Angel’s
biker, a pregnant lady, a real twerp of a business guy – real pansy he was –
and an Anglo-Saxon protestant. The elevator would stop in the middle of two
floors and the electricity would go out. Ohh, it was funny. First the pregnant
lady would start screaming, then the business guy would drop his brief case on
the floor and wouldn’t be able to find it. We always had the whole place
laughing with that one. Never failed.
But what I really liked to do was build the sets. I helped with them a lot. We would pull all-nighters making sure a set would be done for the actor’s – you realize we were on a schedule since none of them would want to come in if there was no set – staying up till 5 or 6 in the morning. The radio blaring on stage, working all night. Every morning after pulling an all-nighter, we’d get a hot dog. For breakfast. Course, ya had to have coffee too, so you’d go down another block to another deli and get a cup’o’coffee.
That city never stopped. There were café’s where people could sit outside. And they don’t care how much you drink there. Great jazz places too. Me and some buddies closed down a bar – 3:00 am – one night and walked down the street. There was this jazz club with 4 or 5 guys playing together on stage. After 3:00 am and they were still going. None of ‘em looked like they knew each other, but they were playing, and they were GOOD. This old black guy with a hat tilted to one side walked past the stage with a case in one hand an’ they all stopped playing and yelled to him to Come on! Get up here and start playin! And he did for the rest of the night…..still going.
I lived there for 10 years… about 10 years.
Watch out for those subways. You can’t go running around riding subways at 3:00 am. Not there."
But what I really liked to do was build the sets. I helped with them a lot. We would pull all-nighters making sure a set would be done for the actor’s – you realize we were on a schedule since none of them would want to come in if there was no set – staying up till 5 or 6 in the morning. The radio blaring on stage, working all night. Every morning after pulling an all-nighter, we’d get a hot dog. For breakfast. Course, ya had to have coffee too, so you’d go down another block to another deli and get a cup’o’coffee.
That city never stopped. There were café’s where people could sit outside. And they don’t care how much you drink there. Great jazz places too. Me and some buddies closed down a bar – 3:00 am – one night and walked down the street. There was this jazz club with 4 or 5 guys playing together on stage. After 3:00 am and they were still going. None of ‘em looked like they knew each other, but they were playing, and they were GOOD. This old black guy with a hat tilted to one side walked past the stage with a case in one hand an’ they all stopped playing and yelled to him to Come on! Get up here and start playin! And he did for the rest of the night…..still going.
I lived there for 10 years… about 10 years.
Watch out for those subways. You can’t go running around riding subways at 3:00 am. Not there."
At this point, Wayne would look at
me, a little sheepishly but with that big grin and kind of shake himself off.
I'd smile and he'd walk away.
