when having snow tires put on my car
had an early appointment
brought my laptop and a giant coffee
to settle in for an hour and a half or so.
while waiting
i planned to write and read and catch up on things
knowing there is always something going on
with any group of fellow ‘waiters.’
i sat at a high table to make for easy typing
most everyone else sat in the lower, more comfortable chairs
quite soon after my arrival, the ambiance changed.
on the left side in front of me
a woman sat down
in the seat next to the remote control for the tv
meant to help the time pass, amuse, and distract everyone.
she immediately took control of the controller
switching whatever channel had been on
to fox news.
the woman in the family to my right
politely asked if she would mind changing
the channel from fox to something else.
she said yes and all good
in no time
we were all watching baywatch reruns
in high def, on the big screen, 90s music pumping
those red bathing suited beauties
running on the beach, boating, emoting, doing pull-ups, rescues, looking hot, and whatnot
and david hasselhoff, the hoff.
the workers at the tire store desk were mesmerized
some young enough to never have seen it before
some old enough to have had the poster and remembering.
i refilled my coffee
the channel was not changed again
throughout my entire (now 2 hour), wait.
new customers coming in had mixed reactions
what an early holiday surprise!
“of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.”
-herodotus
I didn't have my glasses on.... 