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"Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates..."
Oh, what a President's Day I had! And all for that 4 piece audio unit you see above. This will be one three-day weekend to remember. Wanna know why? You know you wanna...
Saturday. Valentine's Day. (By the way, happy belated Valentine's Day to one and all!) I stroll into work with bag of goodies; okay, they're like $10 packs of Godiva chocolates for my co-workers. I start giving them out, and this one co-worker was obsessed with knowing whether I gave one specifically to her, or to everyone. And for the extremely busy 8 hours that I worked that day, she was determined to find the answer to that question. Folks, it was an extremely, unbelievably busy Saturday that day. You'd think that it being Valentine's Day, people would be at retail stores shopping with their ATM cards, and not at banks, right? That would prove wishful thinking. In any event, I eventually tell her that it was just her I bought chocolates for, just to appease her; and she was very appeased. Not enough to garner more than just a thank you, but enough for her to stop bothering me.
In any event, I gave the rest of the candy out, alerting the other co-workers not to inform the teller that I gave it to them. It didn't take too long for them to figure out why, as she went all around the bank letting everyone know that I thought of her on Valentine's Day. And on top of that, I thought of her with not just anything, but Godiva chocolates. What a git.
So, why go through all the trouble? Why wait an hour and a half at the Godiva Store the night before just to give out chocolates to my coworkers on V-Day? To prove a point. My kliq has a hard time believing that with all the beautiful female tellers my boss hired at GreenPoint, this is not paradise for me. Up until Saturday, I could not convince these guys that these tellers are nothing more than eye candy, eye candy that have come to expect attention from us guys; that anything less would lead to snickering & bickering on their part. They expect to be showered with gifts and candy because they are who they are, and it's near pathetic. It's almost sad to say that about people I work with, but it's true. And yesterday, I received four of the most platonic thank-you's I ever have received in memory. Even those who didn't get anything from anyone else but me were just undeniably ungrateful. How platonic? I'll put it in the words of Schroder: They thank you because in their mind, they face guilt if they don't. That's how platonic it was. With witnesses to everything, I have finally convinced my boyz that it is anything but paradise at my job. And their response, one universal "Damn."
And if anyone's asking, I did prove that day.
Sunday. Okay, nothing really happened Sunday, except the All-Star Game. My brother had the gall to bet me $3 that the East Coast would win. Besides becoming $3 richer, and Shaq being All-Star MVP, I realized that I have a quiz later on Today (that being Tuesday) on Auditing. I called my boy Almor to plan studying, in which he agrees to Monday. After that, I would finally treat myself to something I've been craving. Something I have asked for on my birthday, and didn't get; something I've asked for on Christmas, and didn't get: That Sony audio unit you see above. On the President's Day sale, it is $180. But like the Alex Rodriquez trade (more on that later), I had to get the official approval. And that approval costs me... $70.
Monday. For the first time this year, I pull a 12 hour all nighter: from 12AM Sunday night, to 12PM Monday afternoon, I slept like a baby. I showered, and rushed to the Study Hall at Hunter, with a reminder to stop at Pathmark with the $70 I owed and get some toilet paper and paper towels. 1:30PM, I met Almor and "studied" for the quiz; actually, we merely outlined the facts we needed to study for the exam. While my mind was on the audio unit, his mind was on the X-Box he had to get fixed. So, we left the Hall with at least walkaway knowledge of what we needed to know for the exam, and ate at Wendy's. Sporting my new NJ Nets sweats, I didn't fully trust my back pockets, so I left my wallet in my jacket pocket.
Leaving Wendy's, we traveled to Kinko's to photocopy the necessary info from the textbook to study for the auditing test. While on line, I saw a Kinko's copy card, and realized I had to get one of these things first. I spoke to the CSR near the area, and his focus was actually getting a machine first. Now, being at the machine with no forseeable way to use it is as stupid, if not more stupid, than waiting on line realizing that fact. So I held on to the card I found, and when I went to the machine to use it, lo and behold: there was $2 available on the card. Photocopying away, I left the place shortly thereafter. Before I left, I do remember somebody asking about some card they couldn't find...
Heading to the subway, Almor and I part ways. Now, I'm about to have the time of my life, as I get my audio unit. Heading to the bus stop, I checked my pockets for my iPod, recovered it, and realized a crucial utensil to my escapade was missing:
My wallet.
Frantically retracing my footsteps, I went back to Kinko's and asked around. No one has seen it. Finally, I went to the last place I remember holding it: Wendy's. A little more crowded than normal, I finally reach the teller, and he says he didn't find anything either. After going back and forth on the route Almor and I walked, I kept thinking that this is part of some special hex something has put on me, preventing me from buying that audio unit. Finally, I bent down and prayed. Prayed that somehow, I was able to go home with my wallet today. My wallet, the $70 I owed mom, my Sears and Costco card, my SSCard, and my Learner's Permit, all intact. Getting back up, I went back to Kinko's with a determined look on my face. I spoke to the very same CSR that I talked to the first time. He said he didn't see me with it, and that no one there recovered it. In my looking for some sort of confirmation, he goes on in this sales pitch about how his associates, and customers, are some the most honest people around here. He tells the story of how someone nearly lost their credit card (by the way, these card machines do take, and at times eat, credit cards), and another person brought it to the customer service desk. You would never get that at Wendy's (obviously, 'cause they don't take credit cards.) If you left your wallet at Wendy's, you might as well forget it. You'll stand an excellent chance here, but at Wendy's, there ain't no way.
Fine, but what of my wallet? Nothing, he says. So, it's back to Wendy's.
After speaking with the assistant manager, I was just about to give up hope. Until something sparked knowledge in my brain. What about the garbage?!?! You think you left your wallet in the garbage, he asks. Well, I wouldn't. But one of their associates did take my tray and empty it for me, and in the interim, my wallet might have been lost in the shuffle. So he and I proceed to check the garbage, to no avail. Okay, let me ask the maintenance lady about it, the AM says. There I was, by myself, struck by the absurdity and embarassment of it all. I kept thinking about what the CSR said about my chances, and how something kept telling me to try anyway. What chance did I stand get back a wallet with $80 in it? Reality started to seep in, until...
The AM comes back. With my wallet in hand.
Astounded, I did the only thing I thought best to do in the situation. I hugged him. And I hugged the maintenance lady who held on to it until my return. She was quick to remember how I said pardon me and many thanks for taking my tray. Astonished by her intergrity, I took my wallet, and gave her $20 for her troubles. No special reasons or conditions, just my way of thanking her for saving my hide. All of a sudden, in the best spanglish she could muster (spanglish in my dictionary is merely spanish laced with some common english words), she comments on how this is the way it's supposed to be. No, not me tipping her for recovering my wallet, but maintaining honesty and etiquette in any surrounding. I couldn't help but agree.
After thanking them a thousand more times, I boarded the bus with one objective: to break this hex, and get my audio unit. I went to J&R, and spoke with the same associate that I've been speaking with during my window shopping escapades. And with stars in my eyes, even he knew that tonight was the night.
So, you're finally getting it, huh?
Yup, I replied.
But, when I actually got it, I realized that I underestimated the size of the package. I'm telling you guys, it was huge! With my cell phone at minimal battery power, I called a friend of mine, and half an hour later, was travelling the streets of Brooklyn in his Dune Buggy, a '79 Buick which looks like it went through surgery with a metal rod holding it in place. After talking for hours, reminiscing of old times, we went to PathMark for the paper stuff, and went home.
You would think, after finally getting it, no one would be more excited about opening the contents than I, right? Not this time; my brother was the one opening and setting everything up. I sat down to watch Chris Benoit job to Shawn Michaels, and before I knew it, my stereo was up and running. All I could do was shake my head.
Let this be a lesson to all of you. Prayer D-O-E-S work. And it doesn't have to be your last resort, either. Also, never believe everything you hear. And it doesn't just pertain to media, either.
Thanks God, for finally breaking this hex.
More later...