Encounter
He's no longer with us.
Passed some years ago.
He was destined for really big things in the film world.
But a little indiscretion ended that possibility.
Stopped it cold.
I happened in a gas station bathroom.
I guess he had a thing about public bathrooms.
Some guy walked in on his little tryst.
Arrested for lewd unnatural behavior.
In the newspapers.
The studio reacted.
His career took a turning down a less prestigious lane.
Still he worked.
Many roles.
I met him once.
Sort of.
I was at Columbia Pictures.
Their Ranch Lot.
In a talent program for young actors.
It wasn't going too well for me.
Naturalistic acting wasn't something I could grasp
and the director was really letting me have it.
I ended up being the pariah of the class.
But that's another story.
For another time.
Let's concentrate on this one.
My mindset was that of a slightly defiant, chip in his shoulder, feeling
like he was getting an unfair deal, type of a guy.
Aloof and hurt.
You get the picture.
The encounter happened in another public bathroom.
It was near the set for the TV show Fantasy Island.
I walked in to take a leak.
Went to the urinal, which had a raised ledge in front of a long trough.
I stood on it and took aim.
The stream came.
A guy in his 40s walks in, steps up on the ledge, right next to me, close,
despite there being plenty of room further down. I noticed this.
Even out of the corner of my eye, I recognized him.
An actor who used to be on a popular TV show back in the early 1960s,
about two young men in search of adventure,
driving around in a Corvette exploring America.
I hadn't watched it as a kid, but I still knew who he was.
He made an exaggerated provocative flourish as he unzipped
and swung out his cock.
It was like he wanted me to notice.
I did.
But I didn't look at him.
Or say anything.
I ignored him.
Soon I was finished.
I zipped up and walked over to the sink to wash.
Another young actor in my class, Robert,
came in and stood before the mirror to comb his hair.
I started to leave.
The TV star finished and went over to the sink.
I walked right by him without eye contact.
As I got outside I heard him say to Robert, “Ooooh who was that?!”
in a playful sarcastic way.
I guess he was making fun of me for acting so aloof.
As though I was really the somebody and he wasn't?
Because I didn't engage with his come on?
Returning to class, I gave it no more thought.
Many years later reading biographies about actors on the internet
I came across this actor's arrest at the gas station.
It took me back to crossing his path.
Now after so much time has passed I realize we both had our problems.
(Above image: mr_bathroom_12x9_ink_on_paper, by Allen Forrest)
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