Life's To Do List

The second best place in the world to eat popcorn is the waiting room in the service department at Thunderbird Harley Davidson in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mickey, a young salesman, spoke into the phone respectfully to the widow of a man who died an untimely death the day before. I licked the salt and grease from my fingers and tossed the crumpled white bag with red stripes into the trash bin. Mickey and I walked unnoticed, past mechanics with sprawled motorcycle intestines in each bay. Way back in the back, across from the chain link fence stood the dead mans bike. He had it shipped from Barnett's in El Paso. The only available olive green and black Nightster in the Southwest. Never ridden. I wondered how far down "Own a Harley" was on the dead man's list of Things To Do Before I Die. If he had known it was positioned just after, Die of a Heart Attack, I bet he would have moved buying the Harley up the list a little bit.