Choose Me!

Every once in a while (not as often as you'd think), a mentally ill person will walk in the store and cause a little scene. They're usually harmless. They just need to get something off their chest.

Tonight, it was a white haired older man with a ball cap, with a recent but healing gash on his cheek, who's been in before. He was talking as he was walking in and pointing at books, and as he got closer I could make out, "Today, people are buying these books. This one...and this one...and this orange one..."

It reminded me of that story on This American Life, where a stranger on a subway platform, who's obviously a little off, is pointing at every person and saying whether or not they can stay or go. The narrator of the story talks about how when a stranger talks to you, it's imbued with a special kind of importance. Even if the stranger is crazy. The narrator desperately wanted to be told he could stay.

I wondered if the person in the store would point at me. Are people buying me today?

Comments

jayfish said…
maybe you could post his "bestseller" list?
Rachel said…
Damn! You know, I wasn't even paying attention to the specific books he was pointing to. I need to work on those observation skills.

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