Bird Of Paradise

I worked at the Dayton public library Social Sciences reference desk during the mid-80s. The desk was at the end of a long hall that led to and from one of the library's main entrances. To the left of the desk, along the west window, there were several plants, including a very large bird of paradise.

In about 1983 or '84, a black man, maybe in his late 20s, took a considerable liking to both the bird of paradise plant and to me. He was a really nice guy - always polite to staff and patrons. He also was as gay as gay could be, and in both senses of the word. Political correctness and stereotypes be damned - this guy literally pranced about the building.

He would visit the library every week or so. I always knew when he had entered the building because when he got about halfway down the hall - heading straight towards the Social Sciences reference desk - he would immediately begin singing out: "Mr. Smith! . . . Oh Mr. Smith! . . . How is our bird of paradise today?!"

Naturally, I turned about eighty shades of red. But being a public servant in a public building, I was required to stand my ground and greet him as he very quickly approached the desk. For better or for worse, I was this guy's captive audience.

The only way that I could take control of the situation was to walk him away from the public reference desk and over to the greatly admired bird of paradise. He would take considerable delight in showing me how much it had grown since his last visit. Sometimes he would also do some minor hand pruning.

One time I tried to explain to him that since the library was publicly funded, the plant was technically not "our" bird of paradise, but actually belonged to the entire community. He would just gaze at me and smile - not buying any part of my public funding presentation.

I know for a fact that the bird pf paradise plant is long gone, but I often wonder what happened to that guy. He was actually pretty entertaining, and had a great sense of humor. He knew full well that he was embarrassing the hell out of me every time he came into the library, but so be it. The guy simply refused to be denied his fun, and for that, I will always respect him.