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THERMIDOR

                                        1991
The Ides of August
                                     
Hanging out at Printer's Ink, trying      
to read this article in the latest          (This is a long detailed
issue of "Nature" about using a              story that includes
Scanning Tunneling Microscope as an          everything except the point.
"atomic switch". They could twiddle a        So what is the point?)
Xenon atom back and forth between the     
tip and a kink site on the substrate,     
changing the capacitance of the           
junction... I sit down at the counter     
with some coffee.                         
                                          
One of the women who works               
there sometimes and hangs
out there much, sits next to
me, reading something.


When there's a slack moment, the women working behind the
counter come over to her, and say "So what happened?"
I look up.  They glance at me, and lean over to talk to each
other "privately".  I can still hear them, but I can tell
I'm supposed to pretend I can't.

They start gossipping about some
complicated web of bisexual
relationships that I can't quite
follow.  She was complaining about
some woman who was hitting on her,
who "started kissing her and stuff"
and was asking her if she wanted to
go to Watercourse Way. "You know
Watercourse way?  They have hot tubs
there, but you can fuck there.
They've got beds and stuff."  She
considered this scandalous because one
or the other or both of them were
"seriously seeing" someone.
"I mean I'd heard that she liked to
play games, and play with people's             Somewhere along the
heads, but I'd always thought she was          way, I noticed that the
a nice person.  I mean, I still think          woman next to me had
she's a nice person, but --"                   been reading "The
                                               Fountainhead".

Later she was saying something like
"I wonder if she got back together
with them later on?  I mean, I went
hot tubbing with Margot that
Saturday, so I know *she* wasn't with
her."

Still later, one of the other women
was saying something about a bite.  A
bug bite?  She pulled up her shorts        (she sported a golden triangle-
to show a large white welt on her          in-a-circle medallion, which
upper thigh.  The other woman behind       took me a while to connect with
the counter said "Wait a minute.  You      the pink triangle emblem)
were just driving along in your car,
and she bit you on the leg?  No-- I
don't want to hear about it."

And later: "Well, now I know if I want something from you I
should get you drunk."
"No.  When I get drunk I get really _stupid_."

One of the bookstore workers comes by.  They comment on
the amount of gossip.  "Well, this is what it's like,
working in a Cafe."

I gave up and walked out of the place.  Didn't even make
any arch comments about how freaking the straights is all
part of the game...

                                              Personally, I wonder what
                                              this story has to do with
                                              the Sandman story Thermidor,
                                              except that I'd read it
                                              around then and it was
                                              definitely echoing around
                                              in my head...


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