observation #4

There’s a Man at the Laundromat, 

sitting all by himself. I had to look twice because I thought he was a part of the furniture – his body screwed tightly onto the blue metal seats upon which he sat.

So still.

He had 5 plastic bags by his feet. The kind of red and white candy-striped plastic bags that one’s grandmother carries home from Footscray market. The kind that my grandmother always seems to stash away at the bottom of the pantry.

Some of these bags were filled with clothes, some of them were filled with food.

How old is he? What’s his name? What’s he doing after his clothes are washed? 38. Chester. Feeding his cat.

If this were a movie, I would’ve introduced myself and he would’ve offered me an apple from his groceries and we would’ve exchanged stories to the hum of the dryer spinning around and then we would’ve dot dot dot who knows.

A missed opportunity that wasn’t an opportunity at all.