I didn't bring a printer to Vacation City - a computer printer, not an actual person printer, although I didn't bring one of those, either. This left me in a bit of a pinch because I needed to print out some tax forms. You got to love the government - you can mail in your taxes for free or they'll charge you a bunch of money to file them electronically. I guess they want all of the paper piling up in a warehouse somewhere.
I asked one of the drunks across the street if she had a printer I could borrow. She did.
"If you need anything - Anything! - just ask," she shouted in my face, confirming my belief that she thinks I'm hard of hearing or that I don't speak English. I'm assuming that if I ask her to ratchet back the noise the request won't be well-received. Still, I appreciated the gesture - drunks have good hearts, by and large.
I had to make an appointment to go get the printer. She lives maybe 20 yards away from me on the ground floor of an apartment building right across the street. I can see into her living room from my front porch. I had envisioned walking across the street and picking up the printer.
"Now's not good," she said. She was sitting in a chair drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. We agreed to meet the following morning at 9AM. I had my executive assistant call and confirm the appointment, get directions to her place, and arrange for other logistical support.
I got the printer and hooked it up. The ink cartridges were as dry as the Sahara. I called up one of my buddies in The Program and took my PC over to his place, printed out a few pages. It was a lot easier dealing with a sober adult.
Today I saw the drunk.
"Can I bring the printer back over?" I asked. She was sitting in the chair again, drinking something colored out of a tumbler.
"You can keep it until you leave," she said.
"I'm done with it," I said.
"How about tomorrow morning?" she replied.
Frankly, I'm a little intimidated now. I don't know what kind of head games she's playing with me. Why can't I just bring the printer over? I can bring it over and set it on the table next to the chair. She didn't let me in her apartment when I picked up the printer so I assume she's not going to let me in when I bring it back. If I put it on the table she can take it inside whenever she wants. Maybe this is some kind of insurance scam or confidence game. I just don't know
It's not often that someone can shut me up. I can come up with some kind of response to just about anything, no matter how weird or hostile or confusing but she's got me stumped. I backed away and slunk into my house. It reminds me of an incident a few years ago when I showed up at the security desk of a company to meet a customer.
"I have an appointment with Mr. X," I said.
"Appointment!?" the guard said, a little too loudly, in an aggressive, accusatory tone.
I froze like a deer in the headlights. I didn't know how to respond. It was a simple, frequently used word and I assumed he encountered a lot of people who said exactly the same thing in the course of a day.
He looked at me for a moment, then picked up the phone and called my contact.
No comments:
Post a Comment