Chapter 17
Hi.
I’m Paul.
“Paul who?” you ask, eyebrows raised.
“And what is Paul doing in Harry’s story?”
Well, I’ll tell you what I’m doing in Harry’s story: I’m here because without me, you never would have heard of Harry. I’m the reason you know about him in the first place.
If it wasn’t for me, those crazy ideas of his would never have “echoed around the world,” as I used to say. Sure, Harry was the one with all the ideas. He’s a brilliant spiritual genius, and all that. But I’m the one who brought those ideas to the world. Harry couldn’t do it. That wasn’t his job, his role in all of this. Harry is more of a one-on-one guy. But if his message was ever going to be heard by more than a handful of people, he needed someone who could take that message and run with it, spread it around. He needed someone who could mold his ideas and his story into something solid, something eternal. And, as it happened, that someone was me.
I first met Harry in a smelly little bar in Ohio called Murphy’s. (no offense Tina, but you have to admit the air in that place was nasty!) I remember thinking, when I first glanced over at him, that Harry was someone who probably didn’t have a whole lot to say, that it was a waste of time to strike up a conversation with him. But I was a bit jumpy after my first day at my new job, and I felt like talking to someone. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Harry was the only other person in the bar.
Well, except for Tina. Tina was the barmaid at Murphy’s in the afternoon, and although she was usually plenty talkative, she was at that moment leaning down and dipping pint glasses in and out of hot water while talking on the phone she held between her ear and shoulder.
So that left only Harry, down at the very end of the bar where it reached the wall. I wondered why he had chosen that particular stool until I saw the video poker machine on the bar in front of him. He was tap-tap-tapping away, immersed in whatever game he had chosen to waste his money on. He didn’t look up as I sat down three seats to the left of him.
“My name’s Paul,” I said, looking his way. “I’m new in town.” Harry looked over at me, his right index finger paused in front of the screen. I hoped my attempt to break the ice was well received.
Harry smiled. “Welcome,” he said, nodding once. Then he turned back to his game.
“Thanks,” I said with relief. He seemed friendly enough. “I just started working at GE around the corner,” I said. “Tough first day.”
Harry kept on tap-tap-tapping. “And why’s that?” he asked, not bothering to turn toward me this time.
“Why did I start working at GE today, or why was it a tough first day?” I asked with a smile.
Harry nodded, grinning. “Indeed.”
That answer was, I later learned, typical of Harry. He loved short answers, short comments, ones that could be interpreted in more than one way, which he always seemed to find amusing for some reason.
“Well,” I said, “my day consisted of spending the morning in human resources and the afternoon being introduced to, oh, I’d say 50 or 60 people, none of whom I’ll be able to identify tomorrow. Unless they’re still wearing the same clothes.”
Harry laughed. “That would be even more confusing in and of itself.”
“True,” I laughed, my first real laugh all day. “Good point.”
It had been a really crappy day, not exactly what I had hoped for when I moved there from Syracuse the week before. Driving to Murphy’s after work, I had pondered whether or not it was a mistake to take the job. It never did feel quite right. At least not the position. My new boss didn’t exactly fill me with warm fuzzies, either. But I had been living at home for six months after graduating from college (electrical engineering), and GE’s offer was the best one I had received. Actually, it was the only one I had received. As well as the one I was least interested in.
But I needed to move out of my parents’ house, needed to start working. And Ohio sounded like an interesting place to start, even if it was only temporary. But I didn’t feel all that excited about it after having just spent my first day there. The atmosphere seemed stale to me, and most of the people I met seemed stiff and uncomfortable. I hadn’t met a single person that I clicked with right away, which kind of bummed me out.
Perhaps there wasn’t enough oxygen in the air – maybe the air filtration system wasn’t working right. Or maybe the managers had managed to “manage” the personality right out of everyone. Who knows. But whatever it was, the place was too quiet, too still. I prefer motion, energy, some liveliness, an occasional burst of laughter or someone yelling at their computer for locking up again. Something.
Unfortunately, I was stuck there for at least two months - I had paid ahead two months rent. But don’t get me wrong, I had no reason to believe the job would be all that bad. It was just a tough first day, that was all.
And it was that tough first day that brought me to Murphy’s, which is where I met Harry for the first time.
And the second time.
And the third time…
