How Josh and I Met and Became Friends - or - "Poker Face, Josh"

I started working at Hollywood Lights around March or April of '98. I was brought on to help get ready for their 50th anniversary. I wouldn't actually meet or get to know Josh for another 2 or 3 months after starting there. It seems odd that it took that long given what i know of Josh from the past 10 1/2 years. I'm guessing it's just because there was the 50th stuff happening, and I'm guessing around that time there was probably also inventory going on.

When we did finally meet i think it was sometime around the end of May or beginning of June that year. My cousin Ryan and I were into playing Magic: The Gathering and he was working at Hollywood then too. During lunches we started playing games in the break room. One of our coworkers took note of this. I don't remember who exactly. At any rate they introduced me to Josh and told him i played Magic. Josh also played Magic and suggested we get together sometime and play.

Sometime shortly there after we did. I don't really remember much about those first games. But I do remember that he had been out of the game for a while, that i had been playing a lot, and that i trounced him a bit in the beginning. I also remember that when he happened to draw a card he needed his face would light up. Since we shared our decks with one another i usually knew what he had drawn when i saw his face light up and would say something like, "Pulled that Serra Angel you needed, huh?" He would smile and then feign ignorance and say something like, "Whatever do you mean?" This evolved to "Nice poker face, Josh." And eventually, "Poker face, Josh." His response then being to laugh or smile.

This went on all summer. This was because I kind of took advantage of Josh and because he was a sweet heart of a man. You see, my crappy little truck had only one working door and only one of the windows rolled down about an inch or two. So driving home at rush hour in summer heat was brutal. Most every work day that summer i went to Josh's after work and we played Magic or hung out until sundown, and then i would drive home.

I think this one of the main reasons that Josh became so important to me. We both knew i was taking advantage of the situation, but Josh knew that i needed a refuge until the sun went down, and most of that summer was willing to let his home be that place.