The View from the Quai Voltaire

Went to the community center with Friday to do laundry today, and to get a couple of new shirts out of the clothing bank. Pawing through stuff in the clothing bank, Friday kept kiddingly proffering me articles of female clothing: "Bra? You need a bra? How about a pair of girl's panties?" "Maybe," I said, going along with it, "but how do you know they're girl's panties?" "They're padded in the front," he said, "see?" "Oh my God," I said, seeing. Then after I put my clothes in the drier, I walked around the center, it being a heart-meltingly lovely day, and noticed hop-scotch squares marked in chalk on the sidewalks, and it occurred to me that I had no idea--had never had any idea--what they were for.