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I am fortunate to have met this wonderful man, possibly during one of his bad days. And on one of his bad days he was a better person than most on their best of days. I worked at a Barnes and Noble in Colorado Springs for the back half of 2003. He walked in as incognito as possible without wearing a full out disguise. Baseball hat pulled really low, coat with the collar up, unshaven. Except he was Robin loving Williams and you would have to be blind to not notice him if you took a good look. I was working the info desk and when he looked up briefly my eyes bugged out of my head. Before I could nudge my co-worker and start spinning in a circle and screaming he put a finger gently to his lips and lowered his head. I somehow managed to ask him if he needed help finding anything as he walked by. You know the over the top rich and snooty voice he used to do all the time? Imagine that but much more subtle and realistic. That's how he said "No thank you, just going to browse quietly." I took the hint and kind of ran interference for him, keeping other employees from bothering him as much as possible. A few minutes later he is at my right, softly excusing himself and asking if I would ring him up. I assume he wanted to avoid a cashier going bugfuck and fawning over him. I still had a few minutes at info but asked a co-worker if I could ring up a customer I had been helping, since that happened once in a while. I rang him up quickly, not bugging him about our stupid loving discount card, but couldn't help myself. I told him I had just bought his Live on Broadway DVD and nearly pissed myself laughing, as well as my wife laughing so hard she had an asthma attack. His eyes lit up and he smiled genuinely, asked if my wife was now ok, and handed me me cash for his book. After I gave him his change he asked "Do you need me to sign for my credit card?" I gave him the receipt, he took a moment to sign it, and handed it back by shaking my hand. I thanked him, and he replied "No, thank you, Critical" and left. Notice he actually, you know, bothered to use my name after reading my name tag. I looked at the receipt and this was the inscription: Critical, Next time just pee and send me the cleaning bill. [Signature] In my move back across country I misplaced the autograph. I was annoyed at the time but now I really wish I had it. Having struggled with depression myself (I was actually in a locked mental ward for a couple weeks due to SI, I admitted myself) the fact that such a kind and gentle and genuinely good person losing the battle to that disease is heartbreaking. I hope that, for an instant in his life, he knew how much he was loved.
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Aug 13, 2014 05:55
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:04 |
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