Bing Bong
Gina Lollo-
brigida.
You never get a
second chance
to make a first
impression is
not always one
hundred per-
cent accurate.
For example,
it occurs on
plenty an
occasion that,
with but the firm
handshake you
share with a
new acquaint-
ance, you can
immediately
sense (or even
“know”), at
times visc-
erally, that
this hand
belongs to
someone
destined to
become a men-
tor, a primary
confidante, your
best friend and/or
long-term lover,
if not life-long
partner. With
one firm shake
of the hand.
That’s all it can
take to discover
one with whom, for
each passing week
to follow, you’ll en-
joy hours of titillat-
ing, salon-like, deep
and pressing conver-
sations that inspire
not just the two of
you, but all of the
friends you accum-
ulate simply by vir-
tue of the celebrity-
like charisma you as
a duo command,
wherever you hap-
pen to be. And
after the throngs
are enlightened by
these educational
romps, what will
follow are con-
versations until
deep into the
night, or more
often than not,
into the early
morning as the
light begins to
glimmer about
and the local
birdsong is in
full fare, with
just the two of
you; more end-
less, captive,
seismically mind-
blowing, career-
enhancing, and
even more pass-
ionate than the
earlier round-
table engage-
ments, filled the
laughter of gleeful
repartee, replete
with flirtation, eso-
teric mind-games,
and just enough
slight disagree-
ment that either
of you can triumph-
antly sway the
other at least
slightly in the
other’s direction.
These evenings
will see the con-
sumption of scads
of middle- to upper-
range-priced bottles
of wine (because your
new best friend has
an expansive cellar,
and knows just the
places – or can ascer-
tain in a jiffy – to find
the best spirits at
bargain prices, being
friends with vintners,
bulk traders and
sommaliers world-
wide). These nights
are libido-ridden
and rife with com-
pelling import,
which must be dis-
cussed at length –
and soon, of course,
and plans are quickly
made to do just that,
right before you stag-
ger out the door and
into the the filtered
rays of a sunrise, rays
that dance toward you
from heaven (or there-
abouts) and are inter-
spersed with patchy
introspective-conduc-
ing fog. Then, after
happily walking for
a while, and emerg-
ing from a final
patch of fog just
rotund enough to
encapsulate you
and your momen-
tary fantasy, you
are brought back
to the here and
now, back to this
first encounter
with whom you
are by now more
certain than the
intimate connec-
tion the flesh of
a couple of palms
during a firm hand-
shake. That moment
when you are clear
of the imminence
of what will be a
lifetime connection,
which will expand
beyond that first
electric grip each
day henceforth.
It all begins
with this 15 or
20 minute mo-
ment during
which your
spine tingles
with anticipation
of what will come.
And then you trade
cards, your new
best friend pro-
mises a call with-
in a week or two
to follow up with
something or other
so that you can
be gifted a back-
channel to a man
whom you asolute-
ly must contact
immediately, for
whatever upward-
moving reason.
And as your new
soulmate fades
into the crowd
and the conver-
sation still re-
sounds in your
head, you’re
nothing short
of giddy with
prospect, pal-
pably sonic
with relevance,
when mere
minutes pre-
vious it (your
head) was
clogged, stag-
nating with
awareness of
the insignifi-
cance of your
life, which has
now become of
grave importance
to you as you
pocket your
new power-
mate’s card
and bid an
overzealous
Farewell un-
til next week
(or so), so sat-
isfied with the
assurance that
you’ve found
a new mentor
for business
and social
ventures and
who knows
what intriguing
partnerships and
adventure to come.
However, of course,
your new acquaint-
ance, the unbeknownst
burgeoning co-conspir-
ator you’ve imagined,
after mere moments
of gliding through
many admirers,
stopping to speak
at any and all
occasion along
the way, may
quite possibly,
by the end of
the evening, if
not sooner, have,
like many others
before, completely
forgotten you and
your life-altering
moment; may
even, perhaps
never again
register a
glimpse of
a memory
of you or
your first
and only
encounter.
in memory.
Not once.
Not ever.
Swami Swami
Bing Bong
Gina Lollo-
brigida.
