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Who wants all that garbage.

"Is there an Apple store around here?" The old man asked. "I need to get a charger for my Kindle. I want to read a book." I continued sifting through the displays. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing anymore. "Uh," the young man said. "I think there's another computer store somewhere. Maybe on campus or something." He sounded bored. Tired, uninterested. "Is it an Apple store?" The old man asked. I tried not to get involved.

Just not very hard.

"The Campus Computer Store." I said, walking toward them. "I'm headed that way right now if you'd like to come with me, sir." The old man looked at me and smiled. "Alright then, let's go." I looked at the young man. "Thanks." He said. And so we walked out of the Co-op and waited to cross the street. "So much has changed here," he said. He looked at all the colorful signs and shops around him. I looked at the name badge on his chest. "So you graduated from the law school then?" He looked up. "Yes, I graduated from Harvard and came here for law school. My granddaughter is trying to get into the art school or something." He sighed. "But her GPA isn't good."

I cleared my throat. "Well, welcome back to Austin, sir."

"Where are you from?" He asked. "Are you a student of the University of Texas?" "I'm from Austin, I'm a senior here. I love it." He looked up at the tower. "Back when I was in school, someone climbed up into the tower," he said. He paused for a careful moment, considering the memory. "With a rifle and started shooting everybody."

"We're just going right up into this building," I said, motioning toward the FAC.

"Oh, wonderful." He said. He looked around the mall as we walked up the steps to the lobby. "This is such a beautiful campus," he said, indicating the cobble sidewalk and decorative planters. "Do you ever come out here?" I looked back. "Not as often as I'd like, but I enjoy it when I do." "I used to come out here all of the time with my girlfriends." He chuckled. I couldn't help but smile.

"They're all dead now." He said, his smile disappearing.

After helping him find a cable that he eventually decided not to buy, he made his way back to the door. "I'm going to buy a real book." He said. "Thank you, young man." "You're welcome, sir." I said. He lingered for a moment before turning back to look at me again. "Enjoy everything you can, young man. Like books." And with that, he was gone.

And then I went home and played The Sims 3 for a couple of hours.

Comments

Carolynn said…
"I used to come out here all of the time with my girlfriends." He chuckled. I couldn't help but smile.

"They're all dead now." He said, his smile disappearing.

That seems like something straight out of Big Black Nothing.
October 24, 2011 at 11:01 AM
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