scott's idea
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today i arrived at the office and a man named scott was sitting outside in his grey tesla. when he realized I was going into the office he stopped me to ask me questions about the property.
he asked if i knew who owned the building, how much it was, what could be done inside of it. all questions that I could not answer because I genuinely did not know. he was interested in touring. I didn’t know how to navigate this and hoped that there would be someone inside the office who could help.
after only one minute of talking to scott I lost my keys in my giant plaid tote bag and fumbled around awkwardly trying to get to know him to fill up the empty space.
he did skateboarding and screen printing. he mentioned something about how he wanted an office in Los Angeles instead of Canada, this confused me. he mentioned something about 30,000 square feet.
eventually I sat on the (dirty) floor outside my office and found them.
they were wrapped up in my jacket that has a screen printed quote from Justin Bieber
I WANNA TAKE FORGIVENESS AS FAR AS IT GOES
we haven’t taken it far enough
GOD IS SPEAKING TO ME
AT LEAST WE HAVE THAT
LOL
- Justin Bieber
I sat for a moment and wondered if it would be a good opportunity for me to explain that my friends and i like to screenprint quotes like this onto miscellaneous one offs we find at the goodwill bins.
“we also did this other print that says I DID AN MKULTRA ON MYSELF, which was inspired by a tweet that this author my friends and i really like. his name is Tao Lin”
“what’s that?”
“oh well like you know how the government did psychological operations on people in the 70s? like when they would drug people without saying for research purposes? i feel like my friend would be able to explain it better”
maybe he would have really enjoyed that conversation. i hope i didn’t rob him of a good time.
i went inside hoping there was someone in the office who could save the day, i feel inadequate in situations like this.
no one was there. I was tasked with bravery.
i called a guy in our office, the kind of guy who you know will have the answers and will make a scary situation feel safe.
“it’s sold!”
oh!
I ran outside and told Scott.
“bad news, the property has been sold”
I was impressed with my ability to communicate with such animation, normally I am really awkward and forget words or replace them with something similar. like this one time my aunt asked me if i wanted something from 7/11, and i said “one reese’s p*nis please” what was crazy was i never said that word out loud before. i turned red and pretended like it didn’t happen.
he wasn’t disappointed, he had a look in his eye like he has just turned a corner on after a long stretch of road.
“that’s okay, it gave me an idea for something”
he stood there one foot in his grey tesla and one foot out, looking off into the distance, I tried to follow his eyes but all I saw was the Panda Express
“oh!”
I stood there wondering what he meant. was it appropriate for me to ask? part of me feels like he is almost begging me to ask. the silence between us felt loud.
maybe this exchange was a sign for him. maybe this conversation gave him answers to an ancient question in his heart he nearly forgot about. maybe I reminded him of someone and he felt compassion for them and finally found the ability to forgive them, or beg for them back. maybe he had an idea for a story (sometimes my boyfriend has moments like this) maybe he was going to write a story about this interaction (maybe I was). or maybe he really saw me, young and aimless, realized that it is all going to be okay.
he repeated it again
“wow ya, this really gave me an idea for something, it’s such a good idea. huh.”
i was nervous. i really wanted to ask but i don’t know if i would be able to handle his answer.
“well, have a nice day. thank you!”
i wish i asked scott what his idea was