![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/13\/Babe_Ruth2.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBabe rode the elevator to Carl\u2019s Penthouse. First, he was mobbed before he got in the building. Kids, mostly. Out and about. Wanting autographs. Babe Ruth got such an autograph. Wasn\u2019t even a matter of worth. They wanted a piece of the Babe. Part of his soul. For communion. And he was happy to oblige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sort of thing made him late. He stopped wearing a watch. But found people willing to wait, for him, so it was all-reat, brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he entered the spinning doors, revolving inward, and into the grand lobby. And the kids pressed against the windows outside, to see the Babe cross a room and disappear. Like in a terrarium, where living inside was hospitable while artificial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People look out to look in, pressed against the window, seen inside-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were two elevators. Both waiting for him. Identically attired attendants inside each with one hand on the door, keeping it open, and one hand waiting on the control, to take him to his heart\u2019s desire. The ringers ringing against rhythm. People on other floors pleading for escape. The lights above the doors blink off and on in reverse. The rings were in. They both waited for Babe, on the ground floor. Babe chose one at seeming random and stepped inside. As he did, an apologetic nod to the other, dejected. The disappointment on that operator\u2019s face projected into the faces of the kids pressing against the outer windows. Communion. Disappointment. Universal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it better to be appointed or disappointed? To be ordained or pre-ordained? Does order matter? Who decides? First come. Serve up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The doors to the elevators closed. Better luck next time. The faces on the windows faded away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere-to?\u201d said that lucky elevator operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUp-top,\u201d said the Babe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill do,\u201d said the operator, \u201cWill do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wasn\u2019t nothin\u2019 said otherwise. A ride up, uninterrupted in silence. And he was off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the operator it was over. \u201cGood day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babe mumbled something and walked off. The operator closed the door. Felt a little empty inside, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
True ’nuff. True ’nuff.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Babe Ruth goes to see Carl Jung.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"I got You, Babe\nBabe Ruth visits Carl Jung.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,2],"tags":[210,201,147,167,190],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-books","category-writing","tag-baseball","tag-history","tag-humor","tag-humour","tag-psychology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-yE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4087,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/daydream-believers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2148,"position":0},"title":"Daydream Believers","author":"David Raffin","date":"September 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Sophie tucked in for an afternoon nap. She didn\u2019t like the noise of the squabbling. It was disagreeable to her. She didn\u2019t like noisy train stations. Tried to hustle through them with cotton in her ears. But the sleeping cabin was warm, not too warm, and the noise was held\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My books"","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":720,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/a-shadows-nose\/","url_meta":{"origin":2148,"position":1},"title":"A shadow’s nose","author":"David Raffin","date":"June 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The famous image of a nose scrawled all over the world in graffiti, a running joke or a profound statement that something has gone off? Is it based on one specific person's nose or is it based on an amalgam of every kind of nose; an everynose? 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