Wednesday, December 15, 2010


Minor improvement in the weather led to a minor improvement in business. We do have an alert for those laggard shoppers: some items are fast disappearing. We have only 12 or less of the bayberry candle pairs, the "Around the World" coffee collection, and the Christmas mints. And there is only one "cocktail glass" pin left. If any of these were among your anticipated purchases please e-mail us immediately to reserve. (Address to the left.) . . . this fancy tassel sells for $7 and also is in short supply . . . I wonder what triggers the recall of long buried memories. That happened to me today. For no discernible reason I suddenly remembered an event from the '60s . . . My party was at a window atop the very fashionable Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Fog had billowed in, blotting out the ground below; it was like flying just above the clouds. Suddenly there was a terrible ruckus in this quiet and most sophisticated venue. A patron, somewhat inebriated, was shouting obscenities and threatening the bartender. That brought the manager and security guards running. The man said he had stepped away from the bar for just a moment to visit the men's room and when he returned his drink had been discarded and his stash of money stolen. He was certain the bartender was the culprit. The staff was patient and when they calmed the man sufficiently they explained that his drink and his money were safe and intact. But both were now about ninety degrees to the left of where they had been. This was, the drunk was informed, the famous scenic revolving bar. He was then led to his seat, his drink and his money. A subdued collective snicker echoed through the room as we returned to our conversation . . . But why I should have remembered that incident this afternoon totally escapes me . . .

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