Meniscus issue #12: Endgame

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ENDGAME

text and photo by Scott Miller

[Edita's shameful note: When this was written, it was after the 2000 NBA Finals. Although its not altogether inaccurate because the Lakers are still the champs...]

Congratulations! You have reached the end of this issue of Meniscus. Hopefully, it was an enjoyable read. As we reach the end, I want to ramble on about, well, "ends." Some ends are all the more better because the rest (beginning, middle…) was good. The Los Angeles Lakers – Portland Trailblazers Western Conference Finals Game 7 certainly was. L.A. trailed at home by 15 in the fourth quarter. For a few minutes, it looked like they were standing still on defense. But all of a sudden, somehow, they produced one of the great playoff finishes ever. And when Shaquille O’Neal slammed home a Kobe Bryant alley-oop in the final minute, everyone knew they had done it.

Meanwhile, there are also sad endings (aside from if you were rooting for the Trailblazers). My favorite drink is Mello Yello. It is the ultimate citrus soda. Unfortunately, Coke decided to stop producing it. So, to get it takes some effort. I have had friends bring it back to me from such places as Tennessee, Minnesota, North Carolina, rural Pennsylvania, Southern Virginia, and Miami (Florida). I guess you could say known that I like the drink.

But, that brings up a third kind of ending. So what do I do when my Mello Yello supply runs low, and I am in need of some? Why, there is no choice but to drive.

Road trips. I embarked on a road trip to Chicago once. The hope was to find Mello Yello along the way (although not the primary purpose for the trip). Ever been in a car and have to go to the bathroom for a really long time, and then you finally get to go, how nice that is? Well, many journeys have that of nice end, particularly journeys strewn with difficulty. I attempted to make a 2.5 hour car trip that ended up taking seven hours. Let me just tell you, I got to know one certain Sunoco station in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania very well. My muffler sort of fell off. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I then proceeded to lock my keys in the car. Standing in the bitter cold of February, the AAA guy was unable to get my car open, and he had to call another guy to come help. So, the car was finally “broken into.” The AAA guy was about to leave when I told him, “Uh, that’s not actually the reason I called.” He then tied up my muffler, and bravely we started back on the road again. After 7 hours you can imagine I was pretty glad to reach my destination.

An ending indeed. One you just want to revel in, to know that you made it home. It is sort of like eating dessert. Your meal can be good, your meal can be poor, but the dessert better be good. The “cherry on the top,” the “icing on the cake” . . .

Runners always give their all at the very end. They do this because they know that once they get there, they can rest. There is not much longer to go, so they sprint to the end. It is good to finish well.

In movies as well, a lot of times the dénouement comes at the end. All the pieces fit together. The murder is solved, the couple gets together, the captive is rescued . . .

And then there’s Meniscus, a great zine, being ended by Scott rambling on about endings in his first Endgame. All I can say is that I hope your read was as good as my aforementioned trip to Chicago. After excitedly looking in every state from Pennsylvania to Illinois to no avail, we finally reached our destination of Chicago. I had not given up hope yet, and it was there that I ran into a White Hen Pantry and spotted Mello Yello! In my joy, I bought a 20-ouncer for each of my friends. And with wide-brimmed smiles we drank along the banks of the river under a beautiful Chicago afternoon sky. See you next issue!

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