Some years back I was visiting a friend in San Francisco. It was the end of the summer between my first and second year of grad school. I’d had a kind of dull summer and needed some fun.
I hadn’t seen Ben in several years, since we’d both lived in New York. I assumed he had probably changed somewhat in that time. We had done the most obnoxious, irresponsible things back in the day (college, mostly) and although I hadn’t necessarily changed much I figured that he, with his apartment near Union Square and a good job in research lab, would have.
Nope. Not in the least.
On the first day I arrived, he had a work event to attend; a sports event that only employees were invited to. So I hung out in his apartment, my stuff dumped on the couch I’d be sleeping on. I left for a little while, then came back, and he still wasn’t home. Hours passed. I got a drunk dial from him at one point. All right, so he was shit-faced. A couple more hours passed. Finally Ben got home, wasted, a hammer in his pocket (how he acquired a hammer remains a mystery). He had hurt his leg somehow. He ended up going to the E.R early the next morning because of his leg.