sam, sam, the fruit stand man
after graduating college I moved into a small apartment in Adams Morgan with fellow St. Mary's College graduate Sam Jannota
we were out of college and unsure what to do with our newly acquired adult status
I took the natural/easy route and leaped right into my summer/winter jobs of years past that I loved so much; messenger work
I worked a mixture of commission work on my bicycle and set wage work on my motorcycle
the bicycle stuff was the basic delivery and filing stuff
while the motorcycle stuff was occasionally a bit more unique
there were people to tail, history to view, and fat pay checks to collect
well, honestly, most of the time it was a Snooze....a great place to relax after a night in the bars
sam on the otherhand was not sure what to do with his time and adult options

I am not entirely clear how he decided upon this job
it really worked in the short term
sam became the fruit stand man at 17th and L Street
it was not an easy job with its early hours for fruit pickup and preworkday set up
but it had its perks
sam with his calm cool hippie persona and his brown bedroom eyes soon found that women from all over the surrounding blocks wanted his fruit
this fruit stand was the gateway to his dating scene
in an age long before Match.com Sam had a personal goldmine!

our stay together in Adams Morgan was short lived
sam was being torn in various directions
late nights at the bars and early mornings at the fruit stands were wearing him out
there was an opening at a group house with some musician friends of his that he had to take

I moved to a group house in Columbia Heights and Sam moved to a group house in College Park

we all missed having the fruit stand hook up when he was gone
as well as the sound of his keyboards slamming and entertaining a post bar crowd at 2am

I have fond or perhaps humorous memories of our shared space
and our having to learn how to coexist in the adult world
the basic group house dynamics with two rather than more
I would paint a picture of it
but just imagine Felix Unger and Oscar Madison a few years younger, never married, never divorced, and not quite sure how to balance the different personalities

it has been a decade since I spoke with Sam Sam the Fruit Stand Man
but I did try to "reach out and touch him"
talked with his wife a few times
caught up with her
we shared a giggle
talked about Sam, life, and parenthood
learned that Sam is still living the simple life
trying to follow the path of "quality of life"
still playing music
father and husband
and he may even have a dog or two
he not unlike me married a lisa
lisas are the best