Hi VanceFans,

I’m here:

4/5 Albany NY, The Egg http://www.theegg.org w/Paul Reiser
4/6 Concord NH ,The Capitol Theatre www.ccanh.com w/Paul Reiser
4/7 Somerset NJ, Private show so none of your bizness!! ;-)
4/12 Ft Atkinson, WI, www.cafecarpe.com
4/13 Egg Harbor WI, http://www.lostmothgallery.com/events.html
4/20 Beacon NY, www.townecrier.com w/Christine Lavin
4/27 Harvard MA, www.wachusettmusic.net

There’s a 3 Whole Foods markets within 5 miles of my house. While the other 2 generally have pretty decent produce , my most local one, one mile away, is small, crowded, and often stuff seems a little wilty. Yet I will continue shopping there. Here’s why.

I guess no one really says much to the people that work there. Maybe people are busy. Maybe they’re like folks you and I have had lunch or dinner out with that see waitstaff and service people as peripheral. There’s no real crime in that. Maybe it’s privilege. I’ll try not to judge. But not me. I engage with everyone. I just do.

So there’s this Latino fellow, swapping out vegetables for fresher ones and generally doing what he was doing. I say to him “Hi! How are you doing this evening?”. He looks at me and says “Hi! Fine thanks, and I thank you so much for asking”, saying it in that way that meant “not many people ever ask…" Niceties done, I grab a bundle of organic yet slightly raggedy celery, sold by the bundle and not by the pound, and start to put it in my cart. This man smiles, takes the celery out of my hand, looks it over carefully, and puts it back on the shelf. Startled, I didn’t say anything. Then he proceeds to fish around to find two other bound celery bundles, strips a few outer stalks off of each that he apparently saw to be not up to snuff, took the “organic” rubberband off of one and bound the two together. That’s more celery than I’ll use in 3 weeks, but the gesture…

Then it’s off to the fish counter. The young Black man behind the counter greets me cheerfully, recognizing me and my out of season shorts-wearing self. We got to talking about dealing with the public and just dealing with people, and I proclaimed “Man, I’m 60 years old and I still haven’t figured most of that out." He concurred. Once we were done with our wondrous and affirming back and forth, learned each other’s names, and after I bought more tilapia and salmon than I’ll eat in any stretch of time, he says to me “You know Vance, there are days where fish is far more about this than it is about seafood…”

There’s a celery and fish stew or stir fry that’s bound to happen in the next week or so. Maybe it’s to be shared to keep in the spirit of its purchase setting.

I’m doing more album mixing this week, shopping for higher-than-usual-profile publicists, and sure, you can still donate to the cause, and amount from $1 to 10,000 (yep, I’ve seen both thanks) and get your name on my album. Go to www.vancegilbert.com, read the last paragraph on the front page to see how.

Coaching, private parties, millipede sitting and feeding (they can be persnickety and quite saprophagous) contact me...

xovg