The Day goes Quickly by

Today the description of the weather could have been taken from "The Return of the King:" It never got fully light out, but the grey day started turning into evening about two thirty pm when it began snowing mixed with rain. It is freezing, except for the streets, which are a slushy mess, gross grey slop slowing everyone down and soaking into your shoes. I do hate a city winter. Next week LB is going to be having an associate's sale, so I think I might break down and buy a new winter coat. One with a hood.

I had to rush from Job A to Job B because the other person from Job B got fired which means more hours for me--but also more rushing. I managed to scarf down a quick sandwich in the lunchroom, where CNN was interviewing Magic Johnson, asking him what sort of message he wanted to spread today, World AIDS Day, December 1st. CNN told me that it has been 16 years since he publicly admitted he was HIV-positive, and did a brief look back over the things that have changed. Now, of course, a lot of people think "oh, that's an old disease, I could never catch it--and besides, they have drugs now that make you live a lot longer." Witness Magic Johnson, living for 16 years past his diagnosis date.

Happy as I am that Johnson can be a source of inspiration and a voice of advocacy in this world, I am also kind of sad, because 1991 was of course the year that Freddie Mercury succumbed to AIDS. And Freddie has a much more profound influence on my life than Johnson, but he's not around any more. If I had a time machine I'd go back to 1983 and lock Freddie in a room for about two years. I haven't done anything for World AIDS Day ever--not raised money, not attended rallies or informational sessions, but today I was feeling the hole in the world created by the death of Freddie, so I fashioned a red ribbon and pinned it to my lapel using my nametag. No one has asked me what it's meant so far--everyone has been too busy shopping--but I know what it means. I remember.