Carnations In

It’s snowing again, and I just finished making tuna fish salad for my lunch

While slowly draining the day’s second cup of black coffee, I started to watch TV and an upcoming Valentine’s Day alert popped up on the smart screen.

Then for some bizarre reason, I wondered what ever happened to Tommy L.

He and I both worked in the Advertising Department of a major NY newspaper chain. While our office environment wasn’t exactly like the MAD MEN depiction, it came quite close.

Everyday, the atmosphere was exciting, frantic, demanding, and yet, fun. And yes, the women were paid badly, and undeniably, there were sexual overtures that quite frankly, were not always unwelcome. I loved going to work, and so did most of the other young females on staff

Tommy was a bit older than I, probably late 20’s and still lived home with his Mother. While not disliked, he was virtually ignored by all the young women working on the second floor.

None of us invited him to join us for lunch at Shraffts or Patsy’s, even on paydays. We didn’t intend to be unkind ; we just never thought about Tommy very often.

The older men, all young executives in the early throes of an exciting career, were confident, witty and yes, interesting. Tommy was a clerk in the accounting dept, just slightly overweight and relatively shy especially around female counterparts. Until that dark snowy January afternoon, I doubt if any of us really noticed him.

Perhaps that’s why I remembered him today.. It was another dark day, cold and bleak. While snow falling on city streets is never as threatening as that on rural roads, January days everywhere are always a bit dismal.

That late afternoon as my friend and I emerged from the red brick building on the corner of 57th Street and 8th Avenue, the sky was just beginning to turn dark.. Within minutes, we both noticed that a small crowd had gathered and quickly recognized our friends.. Each of them was carrying a ruby red carnation and smiling as they carefully walked towards the subway entrance.

Then we saw Tommy L. He was standing in the snow holding a large wicker basket of long stemmed red carnations. Smiling, he presented each woman who left the building a flower. Even though the temperature was dropping and flakes of snow were melting on his head,, Tommy L. seemed totally at ease and quite happy.

None of us ever found out what provoked such an usual act from this relatively timid young man. However, from then on, we all paid attention to Tommy L. His unexpected act of perhaps generosity or possibly a poignant cry for attention, became a legend.

Shortly thereafter, I left NY to be married, but a few months later, heard Tommy L had also left the company. Where or for what I never learned. However, I always hoped his brief moment of recognition gave him a confidence in the days and years that followed.

Our yesterdays, it is true, were when women were paid less, construction workers whistled, and sometimes, even made suggestive remarks. We were female, but not militant. We were feminists, but seldom angry. The song on our hit parade was , “Vive La Difference,” not “Off With Their Heads.”

Our yesterdays, also, were full of surprises, laughter and even unexpected and unexplained romantic gestures. Events that had no lasting significance, politically or emotionally, but rather were a spontaneous recognition of the opposite sex.,

I hope that hasn’t all ended for young people today.