I went to Brooklyn Friends School

Never Done: Went to Brooklyn Friends School

I have these friends, and they go to Friends. And I have this other friend, and she teaches at Friends. And for years now, I thought they all spent their time on Prospect Park West, where it turns out Poly Prep is. It's not that big a deal, except that it really messes with my perception of the past. Like when my dad found out that his ex wife had been dead for years, and no one had told him, and he felt like it was incredibly strange that he couldn't sense that. This mix up with the school was like that, only nowhere near as intense.

Why did I go to Brooklyn Friends? To see Erez get his head shaved for St. Baldrick's Foundation, to raise money to find cures for childhood cancer. Or, in other words, Going Bald for St. Baldrick's. I had a meeting in midtown, and then hopped the train to get there, knowing I might be a little late. I got to the lobby, and while waiting for the elevator, ran into a couple of teachers who asked me who asked me if I was also going up to the gym where this was happening. I said I was, and they asked me if I had a kid there. This has always been an interesting question for me when I am going to see kids I'm close to perform or play or get their head shaved at school. I want to say yes, because it feels more honest than no, but neither is completely accurate. Is he my kid? No, I'm not his parent. Do I have a kid there? Well, yeah, I am going to see someone who I think of as mine. I guess I could initiate a conversation about the definition of the word "have." Or I could just say, as I usually do, "One of the students here is a really good friend of mine." So we got through that, and she asked me his name, and I told her. She winced, and told me he had just finished getting his head shaved, that I missed it. Then she did an impersonation of him that was so accurate that I knew she was right.

I went up anyway. Really, Jesse and Andy came down, and then Jesse went back up with me. And I got to see the clippers clipping and the buzzers buzzing. And I got to see Erez with his buzzed head. And Jesse was very complimentary about my own buzz cut. (The back did get buzzed. Too bad I didn't donate it St. Baldrick's. Some kid could have rocked my silver hair!) Now, Jesse is so good interpersonally that I don't actually know if he really likes my hair cut, or if he knows what kind of compliment would be most welcome right now, and so he manifested it with incredibly authenticity. And you know what? If you have to ask that question about a friend, then you don't have to ask that question about a friend. Because it's a blessing to have a friend who either means it or can fool you, and you should just soak it in.