That Sure As Hell Ain't Santa Claus

First I got an invitation from this new bank on Biscayne Blvd., followed up by an email from the Chamber of Commerce. Finally I got a call from the Chamber. They wanted to make sure that there was a decent turnout for the bank's grand opening party.

Christmas was fast aproaching and I was making a game out of seeing just how many parties I could attend that were serving free food. Why pay for food when gourmet delicacies are available free for the taking? That strange creature shaped like the bank's logo (or was the banks logo shaped like him?) was posing with everyone. We got to wear a Santa Claus hat and get our picture taken with a Polaroid camera. I figure that with Polaroid ceasing film manufacture this might be my last chance to appear in a Polaroid photo. Get it while the getting's good.

So here I am wearing a Santa hat holding my little Bessa L with the 15mm lens in one hand, some free food in the other, while somebody else was taking what just might be the last ever Polaroid picture of me! They also gave out these neat little duffle bags with the bank's name on it. If I could find the damned thing I could tell you the name of the bank.

Superman? There Ain't No Place Left To Change!

First they replaced real honest to God phone booths with those weatherproof pay phones on a post, and now only the posts and the boxes that once contained the phones are left. I guess they'll soon be gone too. At least with the booths you had a bit of privacy and didn't have to stand out in the rain. Mild mannered Clark Kent, the reporter from the Daily Planet, appreciated the privacy when he changed into his Superman costume. There always seemed to be a phone booth handy when a bank was being robbed or a crazed killer was on the loose. I always wondered why nobody ever stole his suit and tie from the booth while he was off saving a damsel in distress.

Back in the 1950's who could ever have imagined that the legend of the Man of Steel would be done in by tiny little cell phones. My phone weighs less than the mess of quarters I used to carry around, and I no longer need my little address book because all the phone numbers are stored in the phone. The pay phone is history.