[Harp-L] My Encounter with Gus

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I grew up on a block with a bunch of kids bunched around the same age.  One 
of the guys was Rick.  He was a couple of years older than me.  He was a 
serious hoodlum from an early age, but that was a good thing because he 
would introduce me to all the hoodlums in Queens and tell them that I, a 
very beat-up-able person, was off-limits.

I knew him from the time I was three and he was five, as far as I 
recall.  We saw each other every day for about 15 years after that, though 
we did not, as you might imagine, run in the same circles.  Still, he was a 
guy from the block and we chatted often.  When I became a musician in my 
early teens he was not part of the process.  He was hard at work destroying 
brain cells, his own and probably others', at that point.

One evening when I was 18 I was sitting outside playing harmonica for my 
oldest friends.  This had become my big contribution when we hung 
out.  Play us a song, Ken.  Rick walked up.  Stood gawking for a few 
moments and then pulled out a harp and played along.  Very, very badly he 
played.  Worse than most Guses.

But this was not a gig.  I guess this guy never got his professional papers 
from the Gus Guild of America.  Not my first Gus, not my last, easily my worst.

Lots and lots of time passes.  Like 35 years.  Rick's older brother, 50 
times the hoodlum Rick was, is now a famous businessman worth hundreds of 
millions of dollars.  He owns a company you have heard of.  I try to find 
Rick through the internet.  His last name is distinctive, so I find him, 
and I write him, catching him up on what's happened with the other kids on 
the block.

He writes back and says "I know the names of everyone you mention, but I do 
not remember you."  I am stunned.  I saw this guy every day of our lives 
until I was at least 18.  We talked daily.  And now here's this guy who is 
only in his mid-50's, and he can't remember me.  Trust me, I'm not THAT 
unmemorable.

I try to bring up a bunch of early memories.  Nuttin'.  More 
memories.  Zippo.  Then I get a message, a few weeks into our correspondence:

"I just remembered who you are.  You're the guy I played harmonica with!"

Yep.




********************************************************************************
Hear Ken Deifik's Song Collection "Music For Small Audience"
at http://www.HarmonicaGuitar.com
********************************************************************************