Attention

Do stuff.  be clenched, curious.  Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.

~ Susan Sontag

 



Nancy seemed to be the manager of the gas station mini mart place [for the record, NOT the one pictured above].  That said, it also seemed to be Nancy's day off.  She had just stopped by for some reason.  She wasn't working that day.

Maybe that's why the guy with the leering eyes was mopping the bathrooms with days old water.  Of course it could have simply been that he was using black floor cleaner.  I avoided eye contact because I was afraid that if I looked directly at him that it might constitute a common law marriage in his mind.  He gave off a vibe that indicated he probably didn't get a lot of direct eye contact from people.

I digress...  Back to Nancy.  Maybe on the days when Nancy worked people who came in for job interviews actually had someone with whom to meet instead of being told, "Katie?  I didn't know a Katie was coming in today. Thayn't no one here to talk to today."  Of course on this day that was followed by, "Wait.  There's Nancy. I'll ask her. NANCY!"  Katie was rescheduled for later in the week when Nancy would be available.

And maybe on the days when Nancy worked the register area didn't smell like sour milk. Maybe Nancy was a stickler for those kinds of things and people just slacked off when Nancy was gone.

But Nancy had stopped by.  With her friend.  Friend?  Son?  Husband?  He seemed a lot younger than she was, but she seemed a lot older than she was so it was hard to tell the nature of their relationship. He stayed close to her, maybe hoping she would buy him a Ring Pop or a new lighter or a well-aged hotdog off the rollers.  The gas station mart had all those things.  Him waiting and not buying anything for himself made him seem like he might be her son.  And his face tattoo may have made him look younger, too.

And Nancy did yell at him when they walked out the door the first time because he forgot to remind her to buy her cigarettes.  That Nancy.  What a character. 

I think.  Yes.  A character in her world, but maybe in a play or a song or a reality TV show.  "GasMart Nancy."  There's probably a better title.  "Tattooface" is a better title, but I don't think the show would be too much about him.

Adventures are fun.