News Truck

Last day in June, 2021.

5PM in San Anselmo. Time to acquire a bottle of Valley dry white or perhaps a French Chardonnay. Which is why I'm here.

Parked the Jeep and headed on foot to Ludwig's Liquor and Smoke Shop on the next block. Always an ample selection of preferred wine refrigerated there. Once I saw a guy in here with shaggy white hair buying cigars.

In a nearby parking space sat a large truck with a communications satellite uplink on the roof. (How small in radius they are today.) The sliding door is open and I see two young men inside working with video production instruments, sensing they are uplinking video content to some television content location.

"Hey guys what's up, here in San Anselmo?" Not having heard any sirens today.

One closest to me looked me over, seeing a harmless inquiring fossil.

"We interviewed a woman who lives here. One of those who claimed she was raped by Bill Cosby."

I had seen online that a PA judge ruled Cosby's release from prison on Wednesday.

I said, "What was her, this woman's response to that news?" 

Surely I would not ask her name but I thought the interview might be "picked up," syndicated by a local station and then to a network news channel.

The one inside the production truck, the one who seemed to be senior (he just looked that way, maybe thirty years old), said with what I sensed was a professional semi-smile, "She was not happy."

"Probably not," I hastily murmured. Ludwig's closed in ten minutes.

They nodded. Work to do.

"You guys like your job?"

Another nod and back to work.