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| Everything changes. Igor came over, we went to the Buckaroo, first visit since the smoke ban went into effect. The light was clearer; for the first time you could see the bulb behind the plastic which in the past had been trans- lucent but now at last was truly transparent. The Buck still had a slightly smoky smell, whether emanating from 67 year old wood or the crusty guys lining the bar we couldn't tell. Igor told us about his one-month mandatory sojourn in a Bulgarian peach cannery when he was 16. Pressure cookers by day, practical jokes by night --a nightly contest to be the cruellest. The first to fall asleep might wake up upside down, strapped with sheets to bed, the whole frame inverted. It was called the "cosmonaut." A drunk pool player apologized for interrupting, then interrupted further by demanding our names. Igor said, "Igor." The guy replied, "That's a pretty good fake name." We quickly gave up trying to con- vince him. He just wouldn't listen. |
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