Smoke

1:28:02

I'm all ears.

1:28:07

You remember how you once asked
me how I started taking pictures?

1:28:11

Well, this is the story of
how I got my first camera.

1:28:14

As a matter of fact, it's
the only camera I've ever had.

1:28:18

Are you following me so far?

1:28:20

Every word.

1:28:21

So this is the story of how it happened.

1:28:25

Okay.

1:28:28

It was the summer of seventy-six, back
when I first started working for Vinnie.

1:28:32

The summer of the bicentennial.

1:28:34

A kid came in one morning and started
stealing things from the store.

1:28:38

He's standing by the rack of
paperbacks near the front window

1:28:41

He’s stuffing skin
magazines under his shirt.

1:28:44

It was crowded around the counter just
then, so I didn't see him at first...

1:28:47

But once I noticed what he
was up to, I started to shout.

1:28:49

He took off like a jackrabbit, and by the time I managed to get out
from behind the counter, he was already tearing down Seventh Avenue.

1:28:56

I chased after him for about
half a block, and then I gave up.

1:29:00

He'd dropped something along the way, and since I didn't
feel like running anymore, I bent down to see what it was.

1:29:08

It turned out to be his wallet.

1:29:11

There wasn't any money inside,
but his driver's license was there,

1:29:14

along with three or four snapshots.

1:29:18

I suppose I could have called
the cops and had him arrested.

1:29:20

I had his name and
address from the license,

1:29:22

but I felt kind of sorry for him.

1:29:24

He was just a measly little punk,

1:29:26

and once I looked at those
pictures in his wallet,

1:29:31

I couldn't bring myself to
feel very angry at him...

1:29:35

Roger Goodwin.

1:29:38

That was his name.

1:29:40

In one of the pictures, I remember,
he was standing next to his mother.

1:29:43

In another one, he was holding some trophy he got from
school and smiling like he just won the Irish Sweepstakes.

1:29:51

I just didn't have the heart.
A poor kid from Brooklyn

1:29:55

without much going for him,

1:29:57

and who cared about a couple
of dirty magazines, anyway?