If you have a "friend" like Fast Eddie, you'll recognize him pretty quickly. Though I've known Eddie for a very long time, he still has a way of catching me off guard: by the things he does and things he says. Take just Thursday morning.
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I was from my car to check out the grand opening of the new Aldi's at the end of Veterans Highway. I usually have to drive way out to near the Saints' training facility to shop there. Here comes Eddie with an arm full of items, some canned, some needing refrigeration. I am wondering why he doesn't have a cart. Just put a quarter in, get a cart, then get the quarterback when you're done. He answered my question before I even asked it.
"Hey, my man," Fast Eddie says as he approaches. "Couldn't find a quarter in the car, so I'm just carrying it all. It'll fit in my backseat until I get home." I just imagined what his car looked like. I had never seen the inside of his vehicle and only seen glances of it when his daughter would drop him off or pick him up. I was thinking the front seat had to be immaculate while everything else just piled up in the back. I could be wrong about that, but I highly doubted it.
"That place was packed!," Eddie said breathing a sigh while still holding on to his groceries. I offered to hold some of his items, but he shook his head, continuing with his story. "I didn't get any of the free stuff, but I did get to use my coupon," he says shaking a postcard at me with what little free hand he had. "Still have one to use for next time," he tells me as he tries to shove the remaining portion of the card in his pocket, groceries dangling precariously from both arms. I am wondering how he is going to get all this to his car and open the door without spilling it all, when he does what he does best: pivot to a new subject, which is of course the Tulane game Friday night.
Looking at Memphis-Tulane
"I do not like the way this Greenie team is playing," Eddie says shifting gears to the game against Memphis. "There doesn't seem to be no chutzpah with that defense," (I make a mental note that Eddie knows the word "chutzpah" and might even have used it correctly, even if his grammar was a little off), "and Hall can't find a dang quarterback. I agree with you, Dougie: he oughta get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid and start that freshman now."
He apparently read the story Thursday morning with our prognostications for the game Friday night. I thanked him in my head, because I knew I wouldn't get a word in edgewise. He starts edging away to put his groceries in the back of his car, giving a very quick choice for the game.
"Not impressed with the Greenies," he starts, "impressed with the Tiguhs. I haven't missed with the Greenies yet this year on the spread. Take Memphis and give Tulane the points."
And Eddie continues toward where he thinks his car is, realizing he's a couple of rows away from where he actually parked. I'm still amazed he hasn't spilled anything.
Yet.
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