Wednesday, May 14, 2008

From Andy Smith

I went to school at UW from '87-'91 and just stumbled across the Isthmus' Daily Page forum postings. Most of my Cosmo memories are like other people's, things like seeing him walking down the street saying in that signature voice: "Welcome to Gotham City, Batman! BA-HA-HA-HA!"

But I also remembered a story from a friend that is worth relating.

She worked at Steep 'n Brew in the late '80s, so of course she knew Cosmo well. She was a petite and strikingly beautiful woman and was working alone one night (I don't remember exactly why) right before closing time when a guy, whom she'd encountered before and gave her a very bad feeling, came in and parked himself in the upstairs portion of the cafe and made no sign of leaving. It has been years since she told me the story, so many of the exact details escape me, but I remember her explaining why she had a clear sense that this guy knew she was alone and meant her harm.

She was just about at the point of panic when Cosmo walked in. She said she was never so happy to see someone in her life. She said he immediately read the situation and her fear and stayed in the cafe until the creep left.

It's hard to say that Cosmo saved her, but he was certainly in the right place at the right time when she absolutely needed a friend.

That to me summed up Cosmo, and even though I saw him maybe once or twice in the few times I have been back to Madison in the past 17 years, it always made me so happy to see him still around.

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