Quote:

---

We have a very nice Goodwill store here and there is a black guy in his late 20's or early 30's who works the floor with a blue vest on. I kept returning to this heavy knit comforter made up of zigzags of orange and brown and red, and yellow. He must've seen me because after I'd come back to it about 5 times he was fiddling with hangers near me and said "That's nice, isn't it?" and I said "Yeah, yeah. It's beautiful" and he said "How much is it ticketed for?" and I goes "$8.50" with an apologtetic both eybrow raise and crooked frown, like not complaining about the price but that I couldn't afford it. "Is it a green tag?" the black man asked, and I went "No. Blue" and he goes "Shit. Green is half off today." and I said "Aw, darn" and he goes "I'll tell you what, I'll ring it up as a green tag for you" and I said "No, dood. I don't want to get you in trouble" and he insisted "No. No. I'm glad to. There's no way I'll get in trouble. You've been pining over that blanket for 45 minutes, and I'd hate to see you leave without it." He carried it to the register for me and I followed behind saying all sorts of geezes and thanks alots and really nices.

---

Epiphanically Joycean, yet minimalistically Hemingwayish.