29 June 2023

In between customers today, I noticed a woman standing to my right. She wasn’t doing anything, just looking at the walls and the pointed ceiling of the kiosk. “Can I help you?”, I asked. “No. I just want to be here for a moment. I knew the previous owner.”

The previous owner had died a yearish ago. “OH! You knew H? Well, of course you can stay.”

I left her to stand there, while I hustled and bustled a few more customers. A criminally GORGEOUS, gay German couple had FINALLY approached the counter with a magnet. I’d been pretending not to watch these gladiators move around, outside, inside and between my naked, man bags outside. One was Superman with a short, brown beard and bulging muscles. His tshirt seemed loose, but somehow I could still see the ripples of a dozen or so abs underneath there. I should’ve asked what cotton blend it was for myself, because I’m sure THATS the tshirt that will finally transform me.

Some things are more wurst than others.

His partner was a bit taller with a blonde / auburn beard. Somehow, I’d overlooked him……by trying not to look at his partners muscles and square cut jaw, and, and, and…. On closer inspection, this guy was cutting some of the wurst mustard too, with more bite! He was serving quiet man in black shorts and murdered me 3 times with his killer smile. Luckily, I take heart pills, so I survived. I had pretended not to be awestruck by their beauty, or that I had imagined them having sex 4 different times, in 4 different positions since they’d been lurking around. I was happy for them and their seemingly, porn star existence, telling them to go to Spijker Bar, then sending them on their way.

Floating down from my fantasy cloud, I saw the woman again. She’d actually barged in my conversation with the German Gladiators, asking if they knew who Werner Herzog was. That’s why she’d come to town, to see an exhibition about him at The Eye Filmmuseum. Superman had no idea who Herzog was and smiled “no” politely. Upon further reflection, I think he might have been more brawn than brains, but what do I know-and I sure as hell don’t care. I hadn’t really considered talking to him very much…:) Wait, where was I?

I offered her some coffee and she smiled and said yes. I studied her face as we made small talk. It was very kind and had many outlines of a full life. She told me she was mostly a country girl and didn’t get to Amsterdam very often, then remarked that she’d been here twice in the last couple of months, so that was wrong and we laughed. Her eyes were bright and danced behind her glasses as she talked about H. She’d known him growing up, as drag queen as a shopkeeper and now as friend who had died. I could tell that she missed him and really needed this moment of reflection. She had made an effort to come remember her friend and get as close to him as was possible on our earthly realm. In the end, she must’ve stayed for 30 or 40 minutes. We had a nice moment and remembered someone she loved together. I’m glad she shared it with me.

PS- Tshirts, Tanks & Totes available on my website with Buddha on Hot Dog

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