My Brooklyn Girlfriend
Title
My Brooklyn Girlfriend
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"I came late to dating."
Date
2012-01-02
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
My_Brooklyn_Girlfriend
Text
My Brooklyn Girlfriend
I came late to dating. I was shy as a teenager and felt awkward around girls. There were a few girls that I knew, and only once in a great while would I call one of them to ask for a date. This would usually come about because a few of my friends were going out and would ask me to join them. The destination would be a downtown movie. This was the period toward the end of high school that I hung out with two different groups: The Fox Street group, consisting of Irv Plotnick, Sid Reiter, Jerry Stern and a few others; and the Lexington AYD group made up of the guys who became my closest friends: Bob Epstein, Sid Stern, and Alex Roth. It eventually expanded to include Sol Rauch, Phil Bernstein and Mel Schulman.
Many of the guys in each group had girl friends. Speaking with Sid Reiter one day, I asked him if his girl friend had a girl friend. He was delighted that I asked. His girl friend, Elaine, who lived in Brooklyn, had lots of girl friends. He would talk to her and she would think about it and suggest someone who would be “my type.” Besides, if we went out together, we could take the subway to Brooklyn together to pick up our girls. (We would come home separately, for obvious reasons.)
After a couple weeks, Elaine the matchmaker came up with what she thought was the perfect match. She was pretty, dark haired, medium height, nice figure, a year younger than me. I accompanied Sid to Brooklyn (a long ride) and we went to Elaine’s house where I met Elaine’s friend. There were a few awkward moments, but we hit it off, and the four of us went to Manhattan and a movie. We had a fun time, and when I took her home, we exchanged phone numbers and I told her I would call her. I did not try to kiss her good night on that first date.
In a couple weeks, I called her. The ritual was to call on Tuesday if you wanted to take out a girl on Saturday. I called Tuesday. She said yes. And the routine was initiated. Sometimes we would go out with Sid and Irv; sometimes we would go out alone. I liked her, but I wasn’t crazy about her. We now kissed good night, but not much more. I had gotten to know a couple of girls in the Bronx, and going out with them was a lot more convenient. Did I hate that ride to and from Brooklyn!
After about six months, we had hit a plateau. Going out with her became an obligation. We enjoyed each other’s company, but we were also “seeing other people.” Sid and Elaine were “going steady.” Once or twice, I called my Brooklyn girlfriend and she was not available. When this occurred, I almost felt relieved. The subway trip home almost cancelled out the enjoyment of the evening. The trains were running less frequently, and if you just missed a train, it was a long wait until the next one. It was a lonely feeling sitting on the subway platform at one in the morning. There had also been a couple of occasions that I fell asleep on the subway coming home, and rode past my stop, which added an additional half hour or more to the trip.
Finally it happened. We had gone out, had a pleasant evening, but we had gotten into a disagreement on our way home. I have no idea what it was about, but my girlfriend was very upset. We walked from the subway to her home in silence. When we got to her door, not only wasn’t there a good night kiss, she said she did not want to see me again. I was puzzled and asked her why. She refused to tell me. I said if I had said anything to upset her, I apologize. She did not accept my apology. I shrugged, and said good bye. And that was the last I saw of my Brooklyn girlfriend.
1-2-12
I came late to dating. I was shy as a teenager and felt awkward around girls. There were a few girls that I knew, and only once in a great while would I call one of them to ask for a date. This would usually come about because a few of my friends were going out and would ask me to join them. The destination would be a downtown movie. This was the period toward the end of high school that I hung out with two different groups: The Fox Street group, consisting of Irv Plotnick, Sid Reiter, Jerry Stern and a few others; and the Lexington AYD group made up of the guys who became my closest friends: Bob Epstein, Sid Stern, and Alex Roth. It eventually expanded to include Sol Rauch, Phil Bernstein and Mel Schulman.
Many of the guys in each group had girl friends. Speaking with Sid Reiter one day, I asked him if his girl friend had a girl friend. He was delighted that I asked. His girl friend, Elaine, who lived in Brooklyn, had lots of girl friends. He would talk to her and she would think about it and suggest someone who would be “my type.” Besides, if we went out together, we could take the subway to Brooklyn together to pick up our girls. (We would come home separately, for obvious reasons.)
After a couple weeks, Elaine the matchmaker came up with what she thought was the perfect match. She was pretty, dark haired, medium height, nice figure, a year younger than me. I accompanied Sid to Brooklyn (a long ride) and we went to Elaine’s house where I met Elaine’s friend. There were a few awkward moments, but we hit it off, and the four of us went to Manhattan and a movie. We had a fun time, and when I took her home, we exchanged phone numbers and I told her I would call her. I did not try to kiss her good night on that first date.
In a couple weeks, I called her. The ritual was to call on Tuesday if you wanted to take out a girl on Saturday. I called Tuesday. She said yes. And the routine was initiated. Sometimes we would go out with Sid and Irv; sometimes we would go out alone. I liked her, but I wasn’t crazy about her. We now kissed good night, but not much more. I had gotten to know a couple of girls in the Bronx, and going out with them was a lot more convenient. Did I hate that ride to and from Brooklyn!
After about six months, we had hit a plateau. Going out with her became an obligation. We enjoyed each other’s company, but we were also “seeing other people.” Sid and Elaine were “going steady.” Once or twice, I called my Brooklyn girlfriend and she was not available. When this occurred, I almost felt relieved. The subway trip home almost cancelled out the enjoyment of the evening. The trains were running less frequently, and if you just missed a train, it was a long wait until the next one. It was a lonely feeling sitting on the subway platform at one in the morning. There had also been a couple of occasions that I fell asleep on the subway coming home, and rode past my stop, which added an additional half hour or more to the trip.
Finally it happened. We had gone out, had a pleasant evening, but we had gotten into a disagreement on our way home. I have no idea what it was about, but my girlfriend was very upset. We walked from the subway to her home in silence. When we got to her door, not only wasn’t there a good night kiss, she said she did not want to see me again. I was puzzled and asked her why. She refused to tell me. I said if I had said anything to upset her, I apologize. She did not accept my apology. I shrugged, and said good bye. And that was the last I saw of my Brooklyn girlfriend.
1-2-12
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “My Brooklyn Girlfriend,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 24, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/186.