coming clean

Combination

1000·CA

"Constitution State" legend; "COMB" embossed vertically at right.

Previously CA·1234, C·12345, 12345, 123·CAB, 1C·2345, 12C·345 on past bases remade on the current base; 12345·C, 1CA·234, and 12C·A34 on the current base.

Ting is right. 1CU. Gee whiz. Now I feel like the Universe is kind of clumsy with its messages of reassurance, and death is just not witty at all.

1 or I

Dear followers: It has never, in my hundreds of sightings, occurred to me that the license plate referenced in the post below might be a 1, as Ting, who tends to be right, suggests. My sense of Connecticut license plates is that one set of figures are generally letters, and one tends to be 3 numbers. Please scout as you drive and report statistical findings as you develop them.

I C U and appreciate you.

Also, several people have said they are having trouble posting a comment. Me, too. Google Chrome says there's a problem they're working on. Posting this from another browser, where you may also have more luck.

p

Riverside Cemetery

Dear Matt:

You were so good to indulge me yesterday. I've been wanting to get a picture of your license plate for a long time. I see the truck there nearly every time I walk through the cemetery, but rarely see you, and even more rarely have my camera with me.

While I was undergoing treatment for cancer last year, I was determined to keep my 3-mile walking route intact, and that meant going through the cemetery. Lovely as Riverside Cemetery is, a walk through it still makes you think about life, death, disappearing from the earth as we all will. When you've got cancer, it doesn't take much to get the mind really working on that little knot.

Your license plate has on many occasions set into motion a train of thought -- sometimes it heads toward a dark tunnel, and sometimes it heads toward light. Sometimes I feel like death is just rubbing it in by having a cemetery truck bear this license number, and sometimes I feel like the Universe is saying something friendly, reassuring. I always notice the plate, and watch to see where my imagination will take me.

Thanks so much for dropping what you were doing and backing the truck up for one shot, then backing up again for another. I think our brief encounter qualifies as a random act, and your part in it certainly qualifies as one of kindness.

paula chu, alive and kicking (for now)

New Jersey Turnpike

Dear People of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority:

Maybe you haven't heard, and maybe you hear it all too often: no one likes driving through New Jersey on the New Jersey Turnpike. It's clogged with traffic and tolls. Some of the view is clogged, too, and so, alas, is some of the air.

On a recent trip to deliver offspring and belongings to a college outside Philadelphia, I geared myself up to Go the Distance on the New Jersey Turnpike. As I arrived at the first tollbooth, I handed my money to a member of your staff who greeted me with warmth and sent me off with a wave. That brief moment gave me a little boost. The next tollbooth experience was equally pleasant; this person seemed genuinely pleased to have my car finally reach his booth, as if he had been watching the horizon for our arrival.

Every single tollbooth stop -- all the way to Philly and all the way back home -- was the same: each tollbooth operator looked me in the eye, asked me how I was doing, added some friendly tidbit of commentary or news, and sent me off with good wishes and a wave. These periodic encounters punctuated my trip with sips of delight, and made the whole trip so much more pleasant than it might otherwise have been.

Please thank your tollbooth operators for these small acts of kindness. Let them know they made a difference in my day, and that each time they were so friendly they sent out a ripple of light.

paula chu

these letters

The first two letters I've posted are essentially the same letter. Both have virtually the same message to large companies: Hooray for your creativity and fearlessless! And then -- where did it go?

I imagine this repeated message says something about my own struggles with creativity, with going off script. It is easy to coach others in living large.

Having fun with letters to people I will never meet has something to do with how I resolve the tension between my need for connection and my need for boundaries. Even being a counselor is relationship-over-fence. My clients and I go as deep as we can in our time together -- but that time limit is clear. I walk them to the gate - sometimes literally - at the end of the session.

The letter to Walter Chronkite, well, I like to shrink the world like that, to wave across the fence with vim and affection. But the fence -- a lovely, inviting fence, with flowers around it -- is still there.

Walter Chronkite

August 1968
Dear Walter Chronkite:
     You must be very tired, now that the Democratic National Convention is finally over. I could tell while watching you that you were getting tired. I hope you can find time to rest now that you are back home. I'll bet you have lots of stories to tell after Chicago, and I hope your family wants to hear them.
     My parents have been watching the CBS News since we got a TV. Through this summer I've been watching with my godfather, who is visiting and says to tell you hello. My parents will only watch you, and I guess we have all come to trust things you tell us about. We trust you, Walter Chronkite.
     Things seem pretty complicated right now. I know I am only 12, but other people seem to think it is a complicated time, too. I wanted to write to thank you for being someone that brings comfort each night, and a little courage, too.

Paula Chu, New London, Connecticut


Dear Paula,
     Mr. Chronkite has asked me to write to thank you very much for the kind letter you sent him. He is grateful for your message of support, and hopes you and your grandfather [sic] are both well.
     Sincerely,
     Mrs. R. Mankiewicz, Assistant to Walter Chronkite

September 1980
Dear Walter Chronkite:

     I wrote to you when I was, I think, maybe thirteen. It was a typical precocious fan letter, as I recall. You were in Chicago for the '68 convention, and your secretary wrote a brief and friendly reply for you.
     That was the extent of our contact -- until the other night, when I had the following GREAT dream:
     It's hard to begin where I should probably begin, but I need to get a running start for the sake of continuity and memory. The dream began with me counseling a friend (I am, by profession, a counselor). I had a superb session -- a "cure" as we half-jokingly call it.  I note the ego strength of the dream so far (and throughout, I suppose) with some embarrassment.
     Just then the phone rings. I answer it, and you say, "paula, hi! How're you doing? It's been a long time since we've been in touch."
     I say, "Walter Chronkite, well goddamn, how ARE you?"
     We begin to talk about the pressures of your job, as do two old friends.
     I hear you say, "I don't know. The pressure is kind of getting to me. All this election stuff is too much. And it made me uncomfortable when they came up with that idea about me running for president. Sheesh!"
     I empathize and say, "Well, Walter, you know they really mean well. I know you don't want the job, but what they're saying is that you have a real lot of influence in this country. Next to the president, you have perhaps the greatest influence on the people, in terms of getting information to them, explaining things to them, and all that. You know what I mean?"
     "Yeah, I guess," you say, kind of humbly.
     We talk on and on like this for quite awhile, and I am walking down the street with the phone, now and then noticing with delight how far my phone cord stretches, and being really pleased that I ordered one so long. Suddenly my arm jerks back, and I realize that the cord has come to its end.
     "Walter, the cord won't reach any further. I've got to turn back."
     "Okay, sure" you say.
     Then, who should come on the line but (get this) ELDRIDGE CLEAVER. Eldridge says, "How're you folks doin'?" and chats a bit in his friendly way.
    We talk only a minute, and then I notice that you've been quiet. I say, "Walter? Did you hear all that?"
     "No, who was it?"
     "Eldridge Cleaver!"
     "Wow. Eldridge. I haven't talked with him in a long time," you say with warmth and some nostalgia in your voice.
     I finally reach the source of the cord, and we close the conversation.
     "Well, paula," you say, "I'm glad we had this contact. You be in touch."
     "You bet, Walter. I promise I'll write to you. It's so nice of you to call. You take care of yourself. Bye, Walter."
     "Bye, paula."

     I am someone who keeps agreements. I said I would write and, by gum, I am mailing this letter to you.
     I hope you are well, and that you are dealing well with the pressures of your job. From what you said in the dream, "retirement" in November will be both a relief and a difficult transition for you. At least that part sounds plausible and likely accurate. May the relief carry you smoothly through the challenges. Thanks for everything, truly.

paula chu, Harwinton CT

Boroleum

Dear Makers of Boroleum:

     My parents first introduced me to your great product over 30 years ago. The tube said it was manufactured on Fisher's Island, a short ferry ride from their home in New London. I figured they were buying their nasal comfort products locally, and I was happy to support what I thought might be a cottage industry over there on your very small island. I envisioned a family cooking up Boroleum in a little factory in their backyard, perhaps, creating this fabulous product that only a few know about. By now I understand that you are a bigger operation, but I retain the feeling of familiarity with Boroleum and with you, its manufacturers, whenever I buy a new tube for my family's lips and noses.
     It was always a bonus to read the part of the instructions on the tube that encouraged us to "put product well up into the nose." I thought that directive was so bracing, so no-nonsense -- so understanding of what needs to be done when one's nose is too dry. I felt like you were with me and my nose on this adventure called winter -- like we were all in this together.
     When I bought a new tube last week, I looked for the familiar print that would encourage me to do what needed to be done. Alas, it's gone. Instead, the new tube says: "place product at the base of each nostril."*
     What happened? Why suddenly squeamish? I feel like a kid whose parents used to say, "Go out and play -- and have fun!" but now send me out with an anxious warning about cars and strangers and my untied shoe laces.
     If these new instructions are marking a trial period for Boroleum users, please register my vote to change back to the bolder instructions. My family and I will not trip over our laces or push the tube itself well up into the nose. And if we were to, it would be our responsibility. We will not hold you accountable for any over-zealous application of Boroleum.
     Thank you for your kind attention.

paula chu

Dear Ms. Chu:
     Thank you so much for your letter about Boroleum. We love getting mail letting us know our product is valued and has been enjoyed by you and your family for so long.
     We were sorry to learn that you are disappointed with our new packaging and slightly modified instructions. Sinclair Pharmacal was advised recently to update the usage instructions for Boroleum to make them clearer to product users and to eliminate any confusion about how Boroleum is meant to be applied. Please rest assured that we will continue to offer you and your family many winters to come of Boroleum's soothing comfort!
     Thank you for your loyalty, and thank you for writing with your feedback.


Sincerely,
L.S.

P.S. [this is written in her own hand in the corner of the page] My family and I continue to place Boroleum well up into our noses :-)

Dear L:

     Thank you, thank you for your letter. It saddens me that Sinclair has been advised that the risk is too great to instruct Boroleum users as if we were sensible owners of noses. But I do understand.
     I very much appreciated your handwritten note as well. I am glad to have your family in the closet with mine.

Yours in subversion,
paula chu

*I wrote this letter several years and many tubes ago. The directions now say merely: "Apply to affected area not more than 3 to 4 times daily."