Braggart

Wednesday night

I was seated in the back of an auditorium, next to a coworker, one of the 20-somethings. The seats were pretty close together, so I was actually leaning on her. She sat to my left. She turned to me and said, "I have arthritis (in my shoulder)" so I apologised, and sat up straight. To my surprise, she leaned over and rested her head on my left shoulder. We struck up a conversation, and soon I found out that she was a fan of Bruce Springsteen. I told her that I was not only a fan, but that I knew Springsteen, and the last time he was in town, I'd had the opportunity to wander around the stage as the band was playing. A few minutes later, we were still waiting for the presentation (or whatever it was that we were there to see) to begin, so I wandered down to the front of the auditorium, and began playing an electric piano. The crowd was watching me, but I was mainly trying to impress my coworker. I began to play Springsteen's "Streets of Fire," from his album "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and I was considerably rusty, so I botched it.
Not long after that, I walked up to take my seat, only to find that a midget woman had taken my place. I was pretty p.o.'ed about it, but my coworker said, "She didn't mean it -- it must have been some kind of mistake." Eventually I found a seat several rows down, closer toward the center of the room. Later, at the end of the workday, I went home to my apartment, and passed a large, rolled-up Springsteen poster that I'd been meaning to get framed. It was printed in black and white, and featured an alternate photo from the "Born to Run" cover session. Both Bruce and Clarence were laughing and having a good time.

*****

"Darkness on the Edge of Town" is my favorite Springsteen album, and I did play "Streets of Fire" on the piano last night when I got home from work, but it was nothing to write home about. I was able to briefly meet Springsteen twice in one week in August of 1984, but he surely woudn't know who I am. Basically, I chased him down for autographs, once in the street near the Bayou Club in Georgetown, and once at his hotel in D.C. Photogrphaer Eric Meola recently published a book of photos from the "Born to Run" cover session, so the poster must have materialized from images I've seen in that book.

By the way, as far as the dream was concerned, I really had been on stage with the band in the past, and I was remembering it as I related the story to Ms. 20-something. I was showing off, but wasn't lying. No such thing ever happened in real life.

I have no idea whether the coworker in question likes Springsteen, but she's far too young to have arthritis. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if I have some arthritis in my shoulders...