Page 320 - WhyAsInY

Why (as in yaverbaum)
Brandeis. So, while I was on a weekend road trip to the Boston area (Cambridge and Medford), I had looked her up, but she was gone for the weekend (probably in New York, looking me up, I surmised).
Not one easily to be frustrated, I decided to find out how to reach her now that I and, presumably, she were both in New York City. I called her apartment, only to reach a roommate of hers, Bobbie by name (actu- ally, Roberta), who told me that Phyllis was away for the weekend (probably in the Boston or Amherst area, I surmised, although this time I figured out that she was not likely to be looking for me). Bobbie, on the other hand, was alone in New York for the weekend, and, this being Saturday at 7:00—I always called well in advance—she wouldn’t mind if she could have some company. Being, as you would expect, gallant, hungry, and happy not to spend for dinner, I thought that I should oblige her by coming for a visit. Which I did. But, somehow, Phyllis did not show up at her apartment on West 13th Street that evening.
Bobbie was such good company that, when I received a call for din- ner later that week—whether from Bobbie or Phyllis I don’t recall, but for dinner with both Bobbie and Phyllis—I decided to duck. I didn’t want to create any awkwardness with Bobbie, and I wanted to find a way to check out Phyllis before I decided which one of them to pursue. So I asked (in a John Alden/Miles Standish sort of maneuver) whether I could send my roommate Charlie, who was excellent company, also needed to be fed, and, as I’m sure that I told the caller, usually had decent table manners. For my part, I knew that Charlie could stand a good meal and wouldn’t mind finding some company for himself. I told him about the situation, asked him to go and “check out” Phyllis, but— no fool—I maintained dibs on Bobbie.
Charlie came back and immediately and dutifully described what was served (just as my mother would have). “What about Phyllis?” I asked. “I don’t think that she’s your type,” he replied. So, I called Phyllis anyway, and, to make a long story shorter, I got to tell this story at our wedding on March 15, 1969, when Charlie acted as best man.
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