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Background Information |
Text Analysis |
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Romantic Roundabout
Sidney and Kate planned to go off and get married, but they failed to meet each other in Washington,
D.C. Instead of looking for her all over the city, Sidney stayed in one spot for three long years.
By sticking to this plan does he finally meet up again with his girlfriend? Read on and find out.
1.
The Air and Space Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is the most
visited museum in the United States. Year after year, more people visit this massive exhibit honoring
the men and women who have pioneered flight and the exploration of space than visit any other monument
or museum in the entire country.
2.
I work in a little room off the main entrance to the museum, checking coats and other articles which people
do not want to carry around as they tour the building. I see virtually everyone who enters the museum.
3.
Maryanne Wilson, who used to sell souvenirs at the stand located next to my checkroom, has studied
the laws of probability because she likes to bet. She claims that she can calculate, according to her
system, the odds against anything happening. She calculated once that if I held my job for 112 more years,
I would know everyone in the United States by sight.
4.
I myself came to the conclusion that at the very least, if I waited long enough, I would see
everyone who traveled. I¡¯ve told people this theory for years, but no one ever did anything about it.
No one except Sidney, that is. Sidney came into the museum a little over three years ago.
5.
There are several short films which are shown at the museum every half hour. The one called To
Fly is the most popular, and people line up hours in advance to see a particular showing. Sidney
was waiting at the head of the line for the 1:05 showing one afternoon. He was standing there looking very nervous.
6.
I remember noticing him that first day. He wasn¡¯t much more than a thin, anxious kid,
but there was something about him. It was eerie. I knew. I just knew that he was meeting his
girlfriend and that they were going to go off and be married that same day. There¡¯s no use in my trying to explain how I knew this, but after one has watched people for eighteen years, as I have, it¡¯s easy.
7.
Well, more tourists poured through the front door, so I got busy. I didn¡¯t look up again until
it was nearly time for the 1:35 showing of To Fly. I was surprised to see that the young fellow was still there,
at the head of the line.
8.
Sidney¡¯s girlfriend wasn¡¯t there for the 2:05 either, nor the 2:35, and when the viewers
of the 3:05 showing were leaving the theater, Sidney was looking pretty desperate. Soon he wandered
over near my window, so I called out and asked him if I could help.
9.
He described her in a loving way. ¡°She¡¯s small and dark, nineteen years old, and has a spirited face.
I mean she can get mad, but she never stays mad for long. She has a short coat made of soft brown leather,
but maybe she¡¯s not wearing it.¡±
10.
I couldn¡¯t remember anyone like her.
11.
He showed me a letter, actually a postcard, from her: ¡° I¡¯ll be there Thursday.
Meet me at the museum. Let¡¯s fly. Love, love, love, love, Kate.¡± it was from Omaha, Nebraska.
12.
¡°Why don¡¯t you phone home? She¡¯s probably called there, since she missed you here.¡±
13.
He looked ill. ¡°I¡¯ve only been in town two days. We were going to meet and then drive to Florida,
where I¡¯ve got a job promised me. I have no address.¡± He touched the postcard. ¡°I got this general
delivery¡± And with that, he walked back to the head of the
line to look over the people going to the 4:35 show.
14.
When I came on duty the next day, he was still there.
15.
¡°Did she work anywhere?¡± I asked.
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