Sammy Redux, Part 2

I caught myself in a mirror as we enter The Lodge.  Good God, I look like the perfect mountain woman with my hair frizzing in all directions.  He puts his name on the waiting list and escorts me to the bar.  He orders me a glass of Cab and he gets coffee.  I mention my hair and he says softly, "You look beautiful."  All right, Sammy.  You are the man.

His name is called and we're given window seating.  "I bet you made this reservation weeks ago," I tease. "Wasn't easy," he counters.  I order chicken fried steak (this is how you know I am truly Southern) and he orders salmon.

The most eclectic conversation ensues.  From the reasons for the spontaneous demonstrations in the streets all over the country after the slaying of Bin Laden to Sammy's research on lifestyle patterns in young adults to our joint abhorrence of violence in film, it just flows.

He knew I was a philosophy and religion major in college.  What better way to get a broader world view than the narrow one I was raised with?
"Who's your favorite existentialist?" he wants to know.
"That's easy.  Camus.  Of course, he might argue he was not an existentialist but rather an absurdist."
"Favorite book?"
"L'Etranger.  Camus embodies absurdism in the title character who appears to be indifferent to others but that is his form of free will.  He has the will to do what he pleases and doesn't care what the world thinks about him.  A stranger to society.  I kind of related to that.  At the time, I read it in French class, but my professor told me to drop French because I had such a thick Southern accent.  What's your favorite?"
"Myth of Sisyphus.  Again, his attempt to explain the absurdist condition.  Most absurdists felt that man either had to take a leap of faith or conclude that life is meaningless.  But, Camus was different because he felt that facing the absurd allows us to live life to its fullest extent, living a life of freedom and passion."
"Amen to that!"

Sammy was an anthropology major, but likes to read philosophy.  Really?  Who just reads philosophy for the "fun" of it?

"Did you read Being and Nothingness?" he asks.
"Sartre?  Yes, where he articulates his existentialist philosophy, his study on the consciousness of being."
"Didn't understand a word of it."
"I was only 20 so probably thought I did.  But, what did I know?"

By now, it was almost 8 o'clock, getting darker and foggier by the minute.  I really wanted to stay for the clogging show but knew I had to make it back to the Washington Beltway where I was staying with friends.

The drive to my car was harrowing.  How am I ever going to get back in this weather?  He told me to follow him, he would lead me the 50 miles to the highway.  I am so relieved.  What a guy!  I hug him.
"Thank you," I whisper.

He returned to Miami the next day, but he'll be back in a few weeks.  Stay tuned.