Right, enough incessant style-twitching and markup-tweaking for a while. Now for a few things that I’ve been turning over in my mind lately, kind of like when you’re out back digging in the garden in early spring, and you turn over a forkful of earth and find a lot of worms and goo.
Thursday night, I stopped off at a nearby mega-supermarket to pick up a few items for dinner. I’m always on the lookout for odd experiences there ever since the Screaming Child incident, and generally I am rewarded with minor annoyances; they have far more “scan your own groceries” stations than they have staffed checkout aisles, which is fine if you’re not juggling a small amount of groceries with a few items of clothing. Anyway, that night I had a mixed load of food and pet items, and I didn’t feel like wrestling with the scanner, so I got in line for checkout. And waited, and waited and waited.
I had plenty of time to peruse the magazine racks, and noted with interest that once again the Air Force had fought off the aliens. Ho, hum, they do that all the time, it’s beein overdone on Stargate if you ask me. Still, it made the papers:
Nice to see that the men and women in Air Force blue are keeping the world safe from extra-terrorestrials.
Anyway, eventually even this diversion palled, and I started checking out other people’s groceries. The lady at the head of the line was taking the Devil’s own time – some problem with her credit card. Anyway, then it was the man’s turn, just behind her. He was wearing a skullcap; not sure if the style of it signified anything, but it covered more of the head, and sat farther forward than a yarmulke does. For some reason, because he was very distinguished looking, I thought he might be a rabbi. He had an air about him of scholarship, rather than an ordinary, observant businessman.
So the thing that bothered me was this: As he was finishing his transaction, a young man in an oversized starter-type jacket with a big hood went slouching by, walking along in front of the checkouts toward the doors. He had reflective tape on the jacket, and I thought he might be the kid that brings in all the carts. And as he went by our aisle, he looked back over his shoulder, staring at the man in the yarmulke with an intensity I’d never seen in an ordinary, hum-drum setting. And he was sneering, which twisted his face in a parody of thuggishness. He looked like the bastard child of Billy Idol and Eminem – or maybe he was a human-animal hybrid of the two.
And then as he walked, his focus shifted, and I was staring into his eyes. He glared angrily at me, defiant in being caught mid-sneer. I held the gaze, and he continued on out the door… and then the older gentleman finished up and walked off with his purchases in the same direction.
For some reason, I felt very uncomfortable. I wanted to run after the older man and strike up a conversation, just so he wouldn’t walk out in the dark with that kid alone. I’m telling you, it was irrational, and I probably misread the situation completely, but… my heart raced as I silently urged the checker to finish scanning my salmon and cous-cous.
Off I went at last, hurrying a little. I was relieved to see that the older man had been detained, chatting with someone. So I was able to catch up and follow along behind. I had the oddest feeling that I was inserting myself as a silent guardian in order to keep something unpleasant from happening.
He headed right toward my car, so we loaded our things and off we went. I spotted the kid, and he was, indeed, bringing in a long line of carts.
No telling whether my crazy intuition was right, no telling whether the kid would have mouthed off. But that expression on his face was no accident.
No Time For Bullies
I have no time for bullies. I think they’re a completely useless variation on the human model, and I’m irritated that evolution and the survival of the fittest are probably responsible for their presence among us.
There are all kinds of bullies running things nowadays: government and society are rife with them. A bunch of the religious sort ganged up on a “not-bad TV show” (The Book of Daniel) are now congratulating themselves on its cancellation. A bunch more of the political kind shut down commentary at a public meeting from people opposing a conservative-sponsored, undocumented alien tuiton bill. And elsewhere, all kinds of other bullies are doing their unsavory work in the name of God or Mammon
I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I do know that I’m damn tired of living in a bullyocracy.
Reptile Palace Orchestra:Enchanted Reptile Palace:Iguana Iguana[4:00]
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