“Convenience Store Prophet”
Tulip Town Market Grove Center, Oak Ridge- 1945
I don't really know how it came up—what I remember was buying some Alka Seltzer and some bath salts for my dad. I remember her saying, "If these don't put him right, nothing will," and thinking that this was probably the most right lady I'd met in a long time.
Right in the way that makes you go, "Ya, you're right." Like, you're worrying about whether or not whatever you're doing is going to make a difference, but she gets to talking and "Ya, you're right," things will be fine, and usually fine is fine enough.
As I was leaving CVS and she'd started checking out the person behind me, I heard her say, "Life is my teacher—I don't ever wanna stop learning."
I thought, 'Everyone's a convenience store prophet.'
Like the stocker in Trader Joe's who said the margarita mix I was looking at tasted like dirt, but "It's ok if you're into that kind of thing," or the little girl in the snack aisle at Walgreens who said, "I want to give me a cookie!"
Going out is like putting a cup to a wall and listening in on humanity. What you hear behind you in line is sometimes the front of a person's life.
The woman talking to her dad on the phone: "I've got it all under control—it's what mom wanted. Don't worry, Dad, don't worry."
Sometimes, I forget that I'm going to die. I don't know how I do it, but all of a sudden, just when I'm about to fall asleep, somebody says, "You're getting older—eventually, you'll be old enough to die."
Measuring your age used to be like measuring your height on the wall and knowing you were big enough to get on certain rides you'd been missing out on at the boardwalk. Now measuring your age is more of an "Oh shit!" sort of thing, like colonoscopies and Medicare and worrying because you're alone and your wife, well, she was old enough to die, and she did.
Why was she old enough, but you weren't? When will you be? Is it happening soon? Is it happening now?
It's hard to understand a game without rules.
Easier, though, when the convenience store prophet reminds you that life is your teacher and you don't ever want to stop learning.