I toot the horn, and he jumps aside and waves at me. I pull the car forward, set the brake, shut off the ignition, and get out.
“The garage looks good,” Kyle says.
“Yes.”
“We did a good job. Do you like the color?”
“Yes. But I’m painting it again tomorrow.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
“Can I help?”
“If you want to.”
“Will I get paid?”
“No.”
He smiles. “I had to ask.”
And then he’s gone, running again. I can’t remember the last time I ran. I don’t keep data on that.
Dinner is leftover spaghetti with meat sauce, warmed up in the microwave. I eat spaghetti nine times a week, every week, and it is my favorite food. And yet, tonight, I wonder if I am in a rut.
Tonight’s episode of Dragnet—the twenty-second of the fourth and final season—is called “DHQ: Night School,” and it is one of my favorites.
In this episode, which originally aired on March 19, 1970, we see two Dragnet rarities: First, Sergeant Joe Friday spends most of the episode not wearing his customary gray suit, as he is attending night school. Instead, he wears a red cardigan sweater that I can only assume was a popular item in 1970, although I don’t like to assume. I prefer facts. Second, Sergeant Joe Friday has a female interest in this episode, a young nurse who is also attending night school. I guess night school was the sort of place where you met someone in 1970, before the Internet and online dating.
Sergeant Joe Friday is doing very well in night school, but he spots a classmate carrying marijuana, and because he is a cop and cops are never off duty, he arrests his classmate after school. This greatly angers the teacher, played by an actor named Leonard Stone, who also played Sam Beauregard in the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which is one of my favorites. He’s the one who says, “Violet! You’re turning violet, Violet!” Sam Beauregard is also supposed to be from Miles City, Montana, which isn’t all that far from where I live.
Sergeant Joe Friday ends up getting kicked out of class on a vote of the classmates for breaking their trust. Sergeant Joe Friday stews about this, then comes back and asks the teacher for one more chance to talk to the class, with the agreement that if he doesn’t sway two-thirds of the class, he’s still out. The vote is in favor of Sergeant Joe Friday, but not by two-thirds, and he is prepared to leave until a lawyer wearing an eye patch tells the teacher that he has no right to deny Sergeant Joe Friday an education and that he will file charges to keep Sergeant Joe Friday in the class if the professor persists.
This episode, I think, is about standing up for what you believe in, no matter how unpopular. I need to be a lot more like Sergeant Joe Friday.
Sonya Starr:
I wish to express my extreme displeasure with your intractability on the issue of how to label the calls made on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Your refusal to listen to my concerns and then your abrupt dismissal of me were not professional representations of your organization.
I think that people who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how unpopular, should be celebrated, not cast aside. I believe that my ideas about green highlighters and yellow highlighters could have served the Muscular Dystrophy Association well, if only they were given a proper and considerate airing.
It is my hope that should we have occasion to work together in the future, you will exhibit a higher standard of professionalism.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17
It’s hazy in here. The edges of my vision have a gauzy feel. An R.E.M. song I like, “Daysleeper,” calls it “headache gray.” Michael Stipe, R.E.M.’s lead singer, puts words together in odd yet pleasing ways.
Suddenly, she comes into view. I think I have seen her before, and yet I cannot put a name to her. She is looking at me in a way that sends a tingle through me. She licks her lips and moves closer to me.
She is naked.
I am naked.
She reaches down. Oh my goodness. This can’t possibly…
My eyes fly open. My breath is shallow and rapid. It’s 7:39 a.m. It is the twenty-third time this year that I have awoken at this time, although never before like this. I breathe deeply and purse my lips and expel the air in a single blast. I reach for my notebook and pen, flip to today’s page, and write down “7:39 a.m.,” and my data is complete.
Also, my balls ache.
When I log on to Montana Personal Connect, I see something I haven’t seen before:
Inbox (1).
I had not anticipated this. I try not to anticipate things at all, as that is just supposition about what will happen, and supposition is not fact. I prefer facts. And yet I know that anticipation is also human, and so am I, no matter how much I try to resist it.
I had not anticipated this. It seems silly to say, but I am not sure what to do.
I had not anticipated this. I guess I should click the inbox link. Yes, that’s the thing to do.
I had not anticipated this.
Click.
Edward:
I really liked your profile. So many people on here try to “sell” themselves. Its all so fake. But your profile is simple and to the point. I like that in a man.
And your funny too. Anyway I hope you will check out my profile and maybe write back.
Have a great day!
I am flabbergasted. (I like the word “flabbergasted.” It’s not quite an onomatopoeia, another word I like, but it’s close.)
It’s not a perfect letter. Joy does not seem to know the difference between “you’re” and “your,” or how to use an apostrophe or a comma, and she didn’t mention anything about tracking the weather.
It’s also the first response my profile has received. Beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes. My father says that a lot, but I don’t think it’s a philosophy to him. He just doesn’t like poor people. It’s not a philosophy to me, either. I prefer facts.
Joy’s profile picture is very pretty. It would be a stretch to say she’s beautiful. Beautiful is Angelina Jolie or Merry Anders, one of my favorite ensemble actors on Dragnet. Joy is not that. But she is very pretty.
She has short blonde hair and blue eyes that are very bright. She smiles very well, and she has dimples. She looks very sturdy, too, which isn’t always considered a beautiful trait, but I like it.
This is what her profile says:
The guy I am looking for is secure and wants a woman who is secure too. Ive been there done that with guys who are controlling or insecure and never again. I am a simple girl with simple tastes. Take me out to a movie and dinner once in a while and its all good. I prefer H/W proportionate but its the spark that counts. If you can make me laugh its all good. If your in a relationship or living in your parents house don’t bother. If your rich that’s even better. Ha ha. I have 2 kids who live with there dad. I would like to have more kids.
Joy is forty-one. If she wants to have more kids, she needs to hurry.