date: 11.13.2002
entitled: "A Welt with a Tail & Black Beady Eyes"


OUCH! Today�s allergy shot hurt like a motherfucker. The welt is only the size of a quarter, unlike their introductory predecessors, which were the size of a sand dollar. I asked my doctor what happened this time, that made it hurt so badly, and he said, �I don�t know, I hit something hard, and the needle wouldn�t go in any further�. So that explained the eternity the needle was in my arm. I told him, �You probably hit all the other welts from weeks prior�. He laughed. My allergist is great. What other specialists can you call on a weekend, and have them call in a prescription refill for you? None, I must say. But jeez, this welt feels like a small rodent bit down on my tricep, and is hanging there by his teeth. Why do welts feel so heavy?

This morning, on the train, a sleepy, teenage girl got on, and slumped into a seat. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, thrown on some clothes, and walked out the door. Her shoes were even untied. As we passed through station after station, I noticed her slipping more and more deeply into sleep. She had her hood up on her parka, probably to emulate the cozy atmosphere of her bed at home, or possibly even one of those mummy sleeping bags (like on the Cosby Show, when Cliff and Clare tested out the mummy sleeping bags for Sandra and Elvin�s camping store, and couldn�t get out of them). She did pretty well sitting up throughout the train�s halts, kind of rubber-banding back and forth, but eventually, her head came to rest on her neighbor�s shoulder � a man who was also sleeping. However, this human contact woke him up, and he shoved her off. I was baffled. If someone ever felt like leaning against me on the train to get some shut-eye, I wouldn�t care � especially if they were younger than me. Now, if it were some greasy, fifty-year-old man, I�d think differently. But this girl was doing no harm. So, the girl�s head eventually came to rest on her other neighbor, who obliged. This person was an older woman, maybe in her early sixties. Once we hit Union Square, the woman woke the girl up, by tapping her on the thigh, and they exited the train. Were they together? They didn�t exactly walk together, but that could be explained by the fact this girl was a teenager, and felt she was too cool to walk with an adult. But was the woman her grandmother? Or had the girl been an �oopsie�, a new daughter, late in the woman�s life (which reminds me of my sister quoting Bob Ross, �There are no such things as mistakes�only happy accidents.� My sister applies this to painting AND childbearing).


song stuck in my head:

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