Double Louie

Early on in my time at the ABC version of One Life to Live, there was a night security guard named Louie who worked the 11-7 shift. He was the friendliest of guys, always the first to greet me when I arrived just before 7am rehearsal, but we all kind of wondered how he, at barely five feet tall, and at least seventy years old, would be able to do anything if any serious security problem arose on his shift. I am fairly confident that, at least during my time knowing him, there such a situation never arose.

But I digress. I was thinking about Louie because, when I walked into my building lobby last night (this morning, really) at 12:45am, I was greeted by the same doorman who saw me leave at 6:30am (and saw me leave at 6:30am again today). In those early days at OLTL, if I worked a long day in the studio, I would see Louie both in the morning and at night, thus, a "Double Louie." He would look at me, a twentysomething who probably looked fourteen, and in his heavy Caribbean accent, he'd say, "Long day, Miss Tracy." And that was a "Double Louie."

Louie left ABC, I suspect to retire, not long into my tenure there, and I suspect that he passed away many years ago. And over time, my work hours changed enough that I became unlikely to pull a "Double Louie" anyway. But I still remember how nice it was to have someone noticing my comings and goings, and I am grateful that my doormen have filled that gap. When I was out of work, they noticed my going to the gym in the early morning hours and cheered me on to keep doing it. They observed my comings and goings dropping off and picking up children, and in a silent way, they gave me the comfort of normalcy in an abnormal situation. And now that I am working again, leaving very early and coming home very late, they are at the ready with a "have a good day" and a "welcome home." Louie may be long gone, but now I can have a "Double George" and a "Double Bob." In a life of new experiences every day, it's really nice to know you have one of those on your side.