Do You Keep It In Your Wallet?
We’d stopped for the on-ramp light. Given the time of day, it was unusual that the light was in use. Traffic was flowing smoothly on 26 East, with large gaps, so it didn’t make sense. Other than “it was time.”
That’s fine. Gives me the opportunity to floor it when the light turns green. There’s enough of an incline that I can take my foot off the brake and the car won’t move forward. So there’s no (or much less) time between when the red light goes out (faster to watch for that than to watch for green) and when I stomp on the gas.
All 225hp kick into gear and Sagan and I slam (well, at 225hp we only press firmly) into the seat-backs and away we go. We merged into traffic easily. Moved into the middle lane, then into the left. At the bottom of the hill, each lane goes its own direction. Left is North toward Seattle. Middle is right into Downtown Portland. Right is South toward Salem. And we need to go North from here.
Half way down the hill, she started up again.
“I cahn’t tell you how pleeeesed I am to make your acquaintance,” she drolled, channeling Joanna Barnes’ interpretation of Gloria Upson in Auntie Mame. The good version of Auntie Mame. The one with Rosalind Russell.
But then, I’m not sure where she went.
“Do you do something for a living?”
“Did you go to school for that?”
“Make any money at that? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Do you keep it in your wallet?”
Now… I like Sagan. I mean, I sorta have to like her since I made half of her, but there are times when I really like her. She’s so unique, and smart, and interesting, and just ever-so-slightly crazy. The good version of crazy. The one with Rosalind Russell.
“Do you keep it in your wallet? I have a wallet. I keep my money in it.”
I lost it. Which, in general, isn’t good when driving totally 55 MPH down a twisting hill at a steep incline with people who like to switch lanes even after the point they’re not supposed to.
I don’t know where she comes up with this stuff sometimes, but I want her to continue. I don’t want her to shut it down. The way I do. I don’t want her to learn that from me. Which is part of the reason I’m writing this.
