Back in the years before First Chamber Dance co. moved to Seattle, we rented a space on 23rd street, close to the "old studio" on Park ave.S. between 17 and 18.
The building on 23rd was a big building with many floors and an elevator
and the elevator had an elevator man. Sam.
Sam was a skinny little old guy with a thick New York accent and an endless supply of pretzels.
Every afternoon when I left the office where the dogs and I spent some weeks care taking whilst the company was performing somewhere, Sam would offer some pretzels that he obviously had saved for the purpose, to the Schnauzers, Heidi and Frau. And the dogs would condescend to take the pretzels and then sit and stare at Sam till we hit the ground level and we could get out. They never let him touch them. Ever. They saw him in the morning and they ate his pretzels in the afternoon, but they never took to him. It made me sad, for Sam tried so hard.
I can still see the Schnauzers sitting, side by side, waiting for Sam to give then their pretzels and then back away. Very like humans. But Sam never gave up. If we had not moved to Seattle, maybe one day the Schnauzers would have relented. I'd like to think so.
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