Lunch

My lunch today was reminiscent of a movie that I saw about 25 years ago. The movie was “My Dinner with Andre”, starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory. Shawn was basically an unknown actor/writer (several years later he came into the public eye as Vizzini in Rob Reiner’s the Princess Bride). At the time Andre Gregory was a Broadway director who later became an actor.

A young lady that I was dating at the time literally dragged me to the Artsy Theater that was showing this film. She said that Siskle and Ebert, on PBS, had given it two enthusiastic thumbs up. The choice that was given to me was either that I go to the movie or we would not have sexual contact for a week. It was a no brainer; therefore I decided to go to the movie with her.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie. It consisted of Shawn and Gregory sitting at a restaurant table and talking about their life experiences. Shawn asks most of the questions and Gregory does most of the talking. The repartee, whether scripted or not, was excellent.

Today my lunch, with a former co-worker and friend, had much of the same overtones. He came to visit me to drop off a gift from one of my former customers. I suggested that we have lunch at one of my favorite Treasure Island watering holes.

During lunch we began by talking about our lives; I doing most of the questioning and my friend doing most of the talking. We traded many anecdotal stories about our lives and our past. We bonded closer as friends by telling one another about our most intimate feelings.

I had worked with my friend for nearly 6 years. But it wasn’t until our lunch today that I really got to know him as a person and a real friend. It was one of the most enjoyable lunches that I have had in years. The food was good, the Bloody Marys were good and the conversation was excellent.

By the way, the movie “My Dinner with Andre” is available on Amazon.com. It’s well worth watching. There is a link to Amazon.com on this blog. And yes, I do get a referral fee if you buy something from them when linking to them through my blog.

The Beach Bum