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As the weeks boogied on, the manager BobStout of The Turret was leaving for some reason so BillMitchell and BillGordon took over the position (managers were elected at this point.) BillGordon was more the DJ.
I was hired as the doorman, and would be located on the second floor at the sign-in desk. One night this tall and lanky red head (Shane Th. as I recall) floated up the stairs. For some unknown reason that I know of to this day, he bitch slapped me right across the face. It took a few seconds for me regain some semblance of composure (that didn't last long.) I grabbed a hold of his arms and dragged him down the two flights of stairs backwards, throwing him into the street and screaming "you are barred for a year!" I never had many fights at the door and seemed to be able to deal with most situations.
Have you ever met one of those people who just stands out in a crowd? Mikey is just one of those individuals. When I first met him I was asked to throw him out for being a nuisance, I was not comfortable with that decision and instead I took him aside and explained to him that he should try not to annoy people. Although he has a muscular disorder and a problem with speech, he is far from being unintelligent. As I was explaining to him about his situation, his eyes went puppy-dog and I started feeling like that little bit still stuck on the side of the toilet bowl. As time went on Mikey became a part of this community of misfits that I now called home. I discovered that in later years Mikey could speak very plain English when push came to shove. There are many stories and innuendoes that have been leveled upon him, I am quite sure some are true and others are legend.
Tommy Burns ca. 1976
The AlternateBookShop (located on the second floor beside the coat check) was a little cubbyhole of a place; if you have tried to get more than 2 people in a phone booth, this would describe it. TommyBurns (the proprietor who over the years has become a friendly face to me) is a little big man. I never knew what to think of Tommy but he always had a smile. Tommy I guess is a denim/leather sort and very out, he always had this sort of professor type glasses on. Tommy always made me feel comfortable and welcome around him. I guess I was not his type either because he never made any suggestive remarks. The store was full of gay mags (mostly of Lumberjock type guys (which was never my style)) poppers, I always called them "headache in a bottle" and some cockrings and such. I don't remember if there were any larger toys in there at this time in space.
The store was not open all the time but one could tell when it was open because of the light that would shine out its huge transom window and down the stairs. I always looked forward to see that light because Tommy was one that I felt I could talk to at anytime even if most of it was small talk.