January 15th, 1995: Rosemont Horizon auditorium, in Chicago, IL.

Nine Inch Nails were playing their Further Down the Spiral tour in support of The Downward Spiral album.

It’s funny– I was just thinking about what I wore to that specific concert, earlier tonight, because of a comment about a very, very orange pajama set.

I chose my “This IS my costume” Halloween tee, blaze orange with spooky black script across the chest. But I knew we’d be roasting inside in spite of how cold it was that day. So I left my coat in the car.

Doors wouldn’t open for maybe like an hour or so? Outside in Chicago in January with no jacket… the simplest solution seemed to be finding someone attractive already wearing a jacket and ask to snuggle into their coat.

WHY or HOW I had the courage to just walk up to some random stranger in line and ask if I could wrap my arms around him inside his leather jacket, I will never know. I can’t imagine doing something like that now. Ah, the wildness of youth.

He agreed. We hung out inside his coat for the duration of the wait time. When I felt like smoking, he’d press a cigarette to my lips with his (wisely) gloved fingers.

Yes, smoking is very, VERY bad for you, and I have since quit after many years on and off, but it felt super sexy at the time. Like kissing his fingers, through his gloves.

Met him again after the show was over (I think they had seats, and we were in The Pit). He tried to kiss me, but I ducked my head, aiming for his cheek and instead hitting his ear with my lips like I was telling him a secret.

My then-girlfriend was at that show too with other people. We may have waved at each other? But we were mostly a secret, except to our circle of coworkers.

Never saw him again. Can’t remember what his first name was, though my brain wants to say “Ben.” He had long brown hair. Because of course he did LOL. And that famous leather jacket.

Had I not already been dating someone, had I been a bit braver around guys (because apparently snuggling against a total stranger for like an hour was my limit), we might have dated. Assuming he wasn’t stepping out, too.

But my girlfriend and I weren’t really exclusive. She picked up a guy in my year sometime after we became a thing. So, please don’t hate me.

And I may or may not be polyamorous and am notoriously selfish with love/lust, with an infamous wandering eye, easily bored, frequently looking for the next best thing. Trust issues for miles. Presently solo because I’m also very picky. And I’m working on some emotional issues. BUT that’s enough about that.

Anyway, that’s my significant stranger story. Not my ONLY significant stranger encounter, but definitely one of the most memorable.

Wouldn’t it be a trip if I found him somehow and got to find out what became of him, ask if he’d been dating anyone back then, or if he remembered meeting me?

I wrote a poem about him and the girlfriend and the concert. It’s been through several incarnations. Still trying to get it published, though it was run by Poet’s Choice at one point.

If I can’t get it out into the world traditionally, I’ll throw it into another self-published anthology.

What if his name was nowhere close to Ben? LOL…

Well, he’s out there somewhere, hopefully– ideally living his best rock-and-roll life. Cheers to you, Leather Jacket Guy.