Today I visited a branch that I worked at for four years in an… interesting… part of town. I was never bored there, because the patrons made things interesting and suppiled me with endless stories to pass on to my grandchildren. Like the time that guy walked into the foyer, vomitted wildly, then proceeded to browse the videos as if nothing had happened. Or that other guy who told me all about his scabies. It’s a fun place.

Being back in this enviornment brought it all back, and as I waited for my friend to get of work found myself looking around the branch fondly. I was at a computer, trying to find some of my ancestors on Ancestry.com, when I noticed a familiar figure on a computer one row ahead of me. I looked closely to see if I was seeing things, but no. There she was. I wish I could tell you her name, but that wouldn’t be proper, so let’s call her PC.

I’ve known PC for years now, but only on a I-see-you-every-day-because-I-work-here-and-can’t-escape basis. She cracked me up, because she was super paranoid, and would randomly walk up to my coworkers and demand to know why they were staring at her. My poor coworkers would look at her blankly and say, “Uh, what?” She would glare at them with a knowing look. “I know you were staring at me.” How do you respond to that? No, I wasn’t staring at you, crazy. The ironic part was that her accusations would ensure that she was watched from then on, because come on, who wouldn’t stare at her after that? She never accused me of staring, but she would look at books right next to where I was shelving, and when I happen to glance at her would give me this look. Like I was gonna turn her in to the Feds.

After I recognized her, I tried very hard not to look at her, but I didn’t do a very good job. First I stared to make sure it was her; it had been four years, and her back was to me, so who knows? Maybe it was someone else. Once I knew it was her, I stared because it was her. She must have felt my eyes, because she suddenly turned around. I lowered my head just in time. First she glanced at the clock behind me, then she saw me and did this double-take. I focused on my screen and struggled not to smile or laugh. I felt her stare and could only imagine the paranoid delusions that were running through her head. She turned back around, her body noticably stiffer.

I left the building to wait for my friend outside, making sure my back was to the door when PC left at closing. I couldn’t help glancing at her, and the look on her face: priceless. I smiled to myself, amused that some people never change, and happy that I have such weird memories to sustain me when I’m old and gray.