About 25 years ago in Milan there was a man named Charlie. Charlie owned a golf driving range, with batting cages, and various other recreational games. Charlie wore a brown hardhat with his name on the front. "CHARLIE", it said, in uppercase letters written with a black magic marker on a background of white tape.
Charlie, liked to be addressed by his name. And, only by his name, no filler, just "Charlie". If one were to say "Hey" or "Hey, Charlie", Charlie would reach under the counter and produce a miniature bail of hay. The hay, was about the size of a brick. It had a paper on the front that read, "$1.00". Charlie would say, "Hay, that will be one dollar!", as he held out his hand for payment.
The patron, would be somewhat confused by these events. Charlie would seize this opportunity to explain, "See this hat? My name is Charlie!", adding, "Don't ask for hay, unless you want hay."
We used to go to travel to Milan often in those days to hit baseballs and softballs in the batting cages. We enjoyed being there when someone would "Hey, Charlie", we enjoyed the "theater" of the event, even though we had seen the show many times. I miss those days.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention,...It happened to me, twice, early on, because I'm a slow learner. I should have bought the hay the second time, but I apologized instead.
So you don't get the wrong idea about Charlie; I remember him as a gruff but sweet man, with a heart of gold. Although, I must confess, I didn't really know him at all.
He just wanted to be "Charlie", can't blame him for that.
Friday, June 5, 2009
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