A conversation with Don

Co-Worker 1: This is a sweet bike.
Co-Worker 2: Yeah I got the guy a real good deal on it last year.
Me: I see that it has a leather saddle.
Co-Workers: Yeah, leather saddles are the best…blah blah blah spokes, axles, bearing, brakes, stem, gears, cassettes, chains, pins blah blah blah.
Don: Let me tell you something. One time I was down stairs where we kept all of our repairs. I smelled something really foul. I thought that someone had forgotten to flush their stool. I went into the restroom and there was no sign of any stool, so I continued my search for the foul smell. The smell was coming from a specific area and as I got closer I realized it was coming from a specific bike. I began to smell around and when I get to the leather saddle it stunk to high heaven. Well let me tell you what happened. While this man was riding his bike his back began to sweat. The sweat then dripped down his back and into his buttocks. He must have not kept his buttocks clean because it then was soaked up by the leather saddle, which smelled like stool. So this man should have either kept his buttocks cleaner or not had a leather saddle.
Me: Ha. That’s a crazy story Don.
Me (in my head): Hahahahahahahahahahaha. That’s a crazy story Don.
Don: Let me tell ya Dave. After that all the guys said that I went around smelling ladies saddles.
Me: Hm. What?
Me (in my head): Did this guy keep saying stool and buttocks throughout that whole story? I have got to remember this story. Really, I have got to remember this story. Please remember this story David. Stool…buttocks…leather saddle. Got it.


I thought I would relay the story in this way to honor Dave Eggers whose book I just finished. Thanks Dave for a great book.