Village Squire, 1980-07, Page 23ONE DAY AT A TIME
Editor's note: Jim Hagarty is a 29 year old
staff reporter with The Beacon Herald in
Stratford. He is the former editor of The
Mitchell Advocate and wrote a weekly
column in that newspaper for the put
three years. Responses to his column are
welcomed and can be forwarded to The
Village Squire or to Mr. Hagarty, Box 456,
Mitchell.
A one night stand?
I could have gone to the dance alone.
I've gone that way to many events over the
past 15 years.
But this time when the printed invitation
arrived requesting the attendance of 'Jim
and Guest' at the wedding anniversary
reception being staged for friends of mine,
1 made up my mind I'd find myself a date.
Only single people could know how
mysteriously busy you can get every time it
crosses your mind to go to the phone and
ask a member of the opposite sex to
accompany you on an evening out. Many
nights during the month since the
invitation landed in my mailbox, a pressing
urge overcame me to take apart my
grandfather's old mantle clock and see if I
could get it going. By sheer coincidence,
that urge to repair an ancient timepiece
that hasn't so much as even bonged in the
past 50 years came at the same instant the
compulsion to finally place that dreaded
phone call struck.
So, a month went by and with the dance
only three days away, that now or never
feeling descended and I sat down resigned
in front of the little black box.
An inventory of possible names rapidly
appeared across my mind and was just as
quickly filed for future reference. At last, 1
settled on the name of an old girlfriend,
and between deep gasps of breath
designed to infuse courage, 1 dialed her
number instinctively.
She answered and seemed friendly
enough. Idle chit chat consumed the best
part of the next hour. We'd both landed
new jobs since our last meeting in October
so we each felt required to list all the
numerous benefits of our new occupations
along with many other happy develop-
ments of the past eight months which all
went to prove just how well we'd each been
doing without the other.
The inevitable extended pause finally
arrived and in a burst of daring, I asked her
to the dance. Without hesitation, she
agreed to go.
But we both arrived at a pact which,
simply put, stated that this was to be only a
one-night stand and not a prelude to our
getting back together. That agreement
suited me fine. All I wanted was to not
appear at the dance alone.
As always, I arrived late to pick her up.
And as usual, she was later still getting
ready.
For someone heading out on just a
one-night stand, I seemed terribly con-
cerned about my old grey sports jacket,
wondering what she thought of it. And it
seemed to me she sure did a lot of fussing
over her hair and the new black dress she'd
recently bought. That is, a lot of fussing for
someone she'd never see again after that
night.
But we both soon relaxed and as the
dance progressed, I became aware that 1
was having a better time than I could
remember having had at a reception like
that in years. I didn't mind leaving her
sitting at the table now and then while I
chatted with old friends, because. after all,
we'd agreed on only one date so what need
was there to impress?
Only once during the entire evening did
we have reason to recall why we split up in
the first place, but that little spat didn't
last very long.
Mostly, I just felt good and every now
and then caught myself staring and
realizing how remarkably beautiful she
boked in her new black dress and with her
hair all done up.
After a leisurely drive back to her place,
we parted quickly with a few kind words
about what a nice time we'd had but with
no mention that maybe if we just gave it
one more try .. .
But as 1 drove alone out of the city on my
way home, a bunch of pleasant memories
and could-have-beens drifted through my
mind and as the city lights faded in the rear
view mirror, 1 heard myself whisper out
bud, "Aw shucks!"
It was still late when 1 went to bed and
tried to concentrate on the words in the
latest Harry Boyle book I'd been reading.
But it was no use. 1 switched off the light
and drifted contentedly into a dreamless
sleep.
The next day, 1 went about my business.
And my step was a little lighter.
THE
CAMPUS SHOP
Stratford's Leading
Children's Wear Store
Clothing for Infants,
Boys & Girls
July Clearance
Starts July 3rd
OPEN EVERY DAY TILL 5:30
FRIDAY EVENING TILL 9
92 WELLINGTON ST.
STRATFORD
PHONE 271-3720
VILLAGE SQUIRE/JULY 1980 PG. 21