As I mentioned a couple posts ago, one of the purposes of my visit to Albuquerque was to look up my long-lost friend Eric, whom I hadn't seen in many years.
I'd been Facebook friends with him for a couple years, but he is one of those saner souls who rarely posts or interacts with the site. When I was still in Arizona, I sent him a message through the Facebook interface, telling him when I'd be in town and that I hoped to see him, but I wasn't sure how long it would take before he responded.
I got a message back from him about an hour after I checked into the Candlewood Suites on Monday afternoon. He told me that Tuesday night would work for him, since he had to work the other nights I was going to be in town. He left his phone number, and I called him back immediately, leaving an enthusiastic message about getting together.
It turns out he was just heading off to work, so I didn't hear back from him again until the next day. I saw the New Mexico area code in the caller id and immediately answered. I recognized his familiar jovial voice immediately. It was the same old Eric.
He suggested we meet that evening at a Mexican restaurant he knew called Sadie's. He gave me detailed directions, although I didn't really need them.
After spending a productive day working at a nearby Starbucks, I drove up Fourth Street and found the place. I could tell by the size of the parking lot that it was popular, and it turned out to be a local institution of sorts, run by the same family for years.
I sat in the waiting area inside, and the hour of our meeting came and went. I kept scrutinizing everyone who came in. It had been a long time. Would I recognize him?
Finally I saw the person I was sure was Eric. He had put on a few pounds since the old days, so I wasn't one hundred sure. I called out his name and he turned and greeted me with great enthusiasm.
It was a splendid reunion. We spent the meal catching up on our lives---I didn't know that he had been married and divorced. We got into heated but friendly debates about politics and social issues, just like the old days, sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing. Personally I'm completely comfortable being friends with anyone, even if I disagree with them on various issues. People see the world differently, all of us imperfectly and partially, and we must defend our views and positions and we see fit. I try to learn something form everyone I cross paths with.
At one point, during a discussion about the history of the banking system, after each of us had drunk about three beers, the waiter overheard us and joined in the discussion. I was somewhat taken aback at first, but took it in stride. I got the impression that he has to overhear a lot of inane conversations, and found ours to be a refreshing change of pace.
We talked about guns quite a bit, as he has quite a collection, although he claimed not to be a big "Second Amendment Guy." He was interested in the weapons training course I had taken in Nevada, as he had seen my Facebook photos about it. It turns out he was a fan of a rival weapons training facility in Texas. He called the founder of Front Sight a "con man" who overcharged for his courses. I told him I was pleased and that I had only paid a hundred bucks for a four-day course. That seemed to catch is attention.
Towards the end of the evening I finally got around to asking him about his job. For the eighteen years, he has been a paramedic for various agencies in central New Mexico. He recently changed from working from Albuquerque Ambulance to having on-site paramedic position in a local hospital.
I was very curious about the nature of his work, and was hungry for interesting anecdotes. He told me that by far the majority of the ambulance calls he had been on were associated with alcohol. Without irony, with a beer in his hand, he told me that it made him think that Prohibition had perhaps been a good idea after all (but he claimed to support marijuana legalization without reservation).
It was an awesome evening, and over way too soon. He excused himself by saying he had to get some sleep for work tomorrow. Despite my interesting in his work, I didn't envy him at all.
We parted with a warm embrace, and photo taken by the restaurant host. "Next time, we'll go out shooting together," he said.
"It would be an honor," I told him.
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