Post #10

"Equilibrium"

For the man with the white jacket, life is written, yet always random. Since as long as he can remember, his free will had been traded in for chance. To him, anything is possible so he actually has more freedom than anyone else. And due to his novel idea of freedom, nothing bad ever happens to him.

The moment he opens his eyes in the morning, he reaches into the pocket of his pajamas and pulls out 1 of 3 cards. Written in his own writing, these cards determine what he will do first. The three possibilities are: take a shower, brush his teeth, or shave. They were of equal value and therefore he could never decide which should be preformed first. Next, he went downstairs to have breakfast. In the kitchen, the top drawer on the left is where he stores his breakfast cards. Today he will be eating scrambled eggs, toast, and milk. One of the 120 healthy meal combinations. And so his life is like so, leaving everything to chance. He is not in favor of anything nor is he disgusted by anything. If someone asked him to do something, the decision would be decided by time. Looking at his digital watch, he would find the sum of the numbers, say it was 9:52:15, and if it adds up to be an even number, he would do it, otherwise he would politely decline. This sometimes caused problems for the people around him, but the man with the striped black pants could not be more or less content with how things play out. He is an average man of average height and weight. His IQ level and common sense is slightly higher than average, but nothing about his features would be categorized as unique.

On the early afternoon of Monday, January 18, the man with the leather belt was on his way to lunch when he bumped into her, the woman with slender fingers. It was by chance that he drew the card for eating at the Pickles Diner, which brought him to this street at this particular moment. This petite woman was wearing a light blue blouse and yellow skirt as she scurried down the pavement. When he turned to look at her, her brown hair, slightly disheveled, covered half of her face, which was plain and of no outstanding merit. When she spoke to apologize for having walked into him, her voice was calm and sincere. While she was walking, she had her head in her purse looking for something. It couldn't be helped. She hadn't noticed the man with the clean-shaven chin and sleek, stylish hair. "It's quite all right," was all he pronounced. "Well, I'm really sorry about that. I should've paid more attention, I could've fell into a man hole." She was a bit klutzy at times, so it wasn't entirely implausible. The man with the shiny, black shoes looked around and said, "There are no man holes around." It was true, there were no manholes in sight, but he sounded so 'matter-of-fact' to her, she felt crushed by the weight of his uncalculated words. With a momentary pause, he nodded to her and said, "Have a nice day, then," and continued walking towards the diner for lunch. Although they had said their farewells, they continued to walk in the same direction Unknowingly she was going to the same diner to meet with a friend for brunch. Keeping 2 paces behind, she presumed every intersection they came upon would be their last, until finally he stepped into the diner. The woman with the red shades waited for her friend at the front, while he ordered a Royal Reuben and Dr. Pepper with the help of his cards. By the time his food was sizzling on the grill, she got a call from her friend. The man waiting for his lunch could see her yelling at her phone through the reflections of the mirrors and windows. He was intrigued by her character and the way her ears twitched when she was angry. As his food arrived, the woman with the patterned handkerchief plopped herself down on the stool next to his. Having seen her wait outside for over 10 minutes now, the man with the silver watch was compelled to ask, "hungry?" Upon hearing this solitary word, she decided that this stranger was in fact a nice man, thus she relaxed her body a little and gave a slight smile. "What should I order?" The man with the pack of cards in his shirt pocket takes the whole deck out and slides it over the counter, "Take one and we'll find out." She took one of the cards but kept it face down. “Will you buy me lunch?”

He looks down at his watch. 12:51:40. A drop of sweat permeates onto his forehead. “Yes,” and with that reply, he made a decision that seesawed him out of equilibrium.