I saw him and said "HEY!!!"

He yelled "WE BROKE UP." I knew who he meant. Someone who I think still works at the same company as I. The last time I saw him was with her on 7th Avenue a couple of months ago.

"I'M SORRY TO HEAR THAT, MAN!!!"

"YEAH!!!"

"YOU WERE TOGETHER A LONG TIME!!!"

"WE DATED FOR THREE YEARS!!!"

"FUCK!!! THAT'S A LONG TIME!!!"

"SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO!!!"

"YEAH, MAN, NO SHIT!!!"

He said something I could not understand.

"HEY, I HAVEN'T DATED IN MORE THAN THREE YEARS, IF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER!!!"

I don't think he could hear me, either. The pounding music was unbelievably loud. as much as this was a conversation I wanted to have today, I did not want to have it while screaming as loud as humanly possible.

It spared me from having to define what I meant by "dating," and how I've never felt myself worthy of the real thing.

So instead of hanging out with him and his friends I went to a junk shop and found a bunch of new foundcrap photos.

I was just sitting here thinking there was a broader point to be made, but I do not think that this is the case.

I had a fine day. In which it was discovered that Macy's has a fine deal on the Petrof P131 upright piano. $9,725. My consumer head has been in the stratosphere of list-price pianos the last 3 months, so the $2,800 leather sofa I saw an hour later looked and sounded like a steal. And forget about the $800 corner-fit 77-gallon reef aquarium with which I might go forward.