Romantic Inscription on Bench Sits Well With Boulevard Sweethearts

Some people pledge their undying love.

Bruce Thomas advertises his on a bus bench at a Sherman Oaks street corner strewn with weeds, debris and stray grocery carts.

“Reserved for Bruce and Jill,” proclaims his romantic missive, adorned by two red hearts, on the bench at Ventura Boulevard and Hazeltine Avenue.

The bench is not, perhaps, in the most romantic locale.

But Thomas and his girlfriend, Jill Perlmutter, say it is a fitting tribute to a match made on the boulevard.

“I wanted something personal and something we could see on a daily basis,” said Thomas, 42, who manages a record, tape and compact disc store. “Ventura Boulevard was the perfect spot.”

Thomas and Perlmutter point out that their romance blossomed after they met about a year ago at a boulevard eatery.

Both live in Sherman Oaks near the boulevard.

Besides, the bench is halfway between their workplaces, which are both on the boulevard. “I thought this could be our bench,” Thomas said.

Indeed, the bench seems to have become a veritable love seat for the couple.

“Every day I come by and look at it,” said Perlmutter, a 26-year-old waitress. “No one’s ever done anything like that for me, not even close.”

The “reserved” sign is not the first time, however, that Thomas has paid to advertise his love. In February, he spent $250 for a four-week advertisement on the bench that read “Happy Valentines! ‘Fireball’ I love you.”

When the bench advertising company then offered a discount rate of $40 per month for continued signage, Thomas put up the new sign.

Now, Thomas, who said he and Perlmutter are engaged to be engaged, is thinking of buying a new advertisement in June.

Not that there aren’t problems with posting your love at a bus stop.

“The weeds don’t bother me as much as the graffiti,” Perlmutter said.