a flashlight story in nyc

residue

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 8, 2003
Messages
50
yesterday was unexpectedly gusty in new york. after exiting the subway on the way back from work, i saw a fire truck in front of home. at first i was alarmed and started running down the block until i realized that a tree had fallen onto the neighbor's car. the firemen were using some power saws to cut up the debris. it looked like they could use more light so i ran inside to grab my u2 but the 80 lumen flood appeared it would be overpowered by the streetlamps down the block. the immediate area where they were cutting was dark but they were doing fine and almost finished. no need to get involved.

there were several news reports during the evening about downed trees so i spent the night trying to find a more powerful led light because you never know when the fire department might need extra illumination to cut wood on the sidewalk. semi-excuses to shop for lights when you live in nyc just don't come along often. browsing the forums...milkyspit's project m...nice but i didn't think my available l5 body would provide enough juice...k2 stunner...brief runtime and too long...beast ii...drool...way, way out of budget.

went to see the departed at union square saturday afternoon. seats were scarce so we ended up towards the back. i was sitting directly behind a rather large guy in the next row. the chairs in this theater are angled back rather sharply and are very low. 1/8 of my view was blocked. i wondered why the guy had to sit so upright but gave him the mental benefit of the doubt by telling myself that he just happened to be extremely tall. my wife offered to trade seats but i declined. that wouldn't have been fair to her.

while the endless commercials blared, i imagined wielding a surefire beast and illuminating the caver...uhh...theater ceiling with it. just before the actual movie, the guy in front of me shifted over one seat. he was now in front of my wife. ha. good thing i stayed put. he was actually slouched a bit more than before so the obstruction wasn't as bad.

after the movie, as the credits rolled by, we got up to leave. the tall man in front also got up, turned around and started to say something. did he hear me complaining about his height? did i actually verbalize that earlier? oh no!

"excuse me - dropped my glasses."

it took a few seconds to register. red cr2 ion to the rescue? a flashaholic moment? vindication after years of ridicule?

i fumbled in my pockets as i whispered to my wife, "should i use it? should i use it?"

"go look for it," she replied.

out came the cr2 ion. the low mode was all that was needed to quickly locate a heavy silver colored object under the seat. it was the size of a women's compact or a business cardholder and not the full sized case i was expecting. handing it over, i quickly tucked the light back into my pocket to hear, "thank you! saved the day!"

i'm sure he was referring to finding his glasses and not carrying a flashlight but it's always nice to help someone out. resuming our exit, my wife pulled me aside to tell me -

"hey...uhh...i think that was ron darling."

taking a quick glance before he disappeared into the crowd, i agreed that maybe it was.
 

FrogsInWinter

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
370
Location
NYC
That's a nice story residue. Makes me want to buy a cr2 ion (or three)
rolleye11.gif
. And Ron Darling (possibly)? Maybe he should have been pitching Thursday night, but let me not bring that up. Good story though.
 

paulr

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
10,832
Nice story even though I don't know who Ron Darling is (hmm, sounds like a baseball player, I'd guessed an actor). I have a red-led Fauxton on my keys and have actually used it to look under theater seats multiple times (for stuff I dropped myself though). I find it less obtrusive for this purpose than a white light would be.
 
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