When Betty and Colin started dating our last year at Cal, I was occupied with a number of my own activities, so I didn’t actually spend a lot of time with her. I had a good impression of her, but mostly just took on faith that if Colin was dating her, she must be okay.
During our time in Taiwan, certainly, I only gained more evidence of what a generous, funny, and smart person she was, but it was after brunch on a Sunday–this was when I was crashing on their couch, having arrived back in the states, jobless, homeless and trying to build a life–that I discovered how cool Betty was.
After going out to grab some delicious food in one of the West Berkeley eateries that hadn’t existed during my time as a student (or if they did, we never ventured that far out), we found ourselves browsing through an old salvage shop, filled with second-hand goods of all varieties for sale. After separating and wandering around, I saw Betty heading to the cash register with a laundry basket filled with Lincoln Logs. She made the purchase and we left, and on the drive home I just couldn’t help but be impressed with how cool Betty was. I mean, I could see how Colin or I or one of our many university friends would have found some cool toy at a shop and made the impulse buy, but I didn’t expect that a girlfriend would necessarily do the same. A girlfriend may tolerate our behavior, but here was Betty leading the charge. I totally got it, and saw how Betty was a great match for Colin.
We got back to Betty and Colin’s place, and spend the afternoon building houses, fences, and eventually an entire civilization out of our newly acquired goods. We even made use of the laundry basket by flipping it upside down and dubbing it “Mount Baskey.”
It was an awesome afternoon, and exactly the kind of reassurance I needed that building my new life back in the states would be every bit as exciting, adventurous and playful as my time on the road. Also, since Betty and Colin were my primary source of friendship and social support in my early days of settling in, it was good to know we were all in sync. We all played at the same level of coolness.
As the afternoon was winding down, and pictures of our creation had been taken, we broke down the structures and packed the away. As Betty lifted the laundry basket of Lincoln Logs and set them aside, she made some comment about how great this was going to be for the kids.
Oh.
I misunderstood. Betty, who worked with children, made the purchase so she could use the Lincoln Logs at her work.
Still, she did let us play with her Lincoln Logs, so I guess she’s still kind of cool…