Listen to the Skies Fall In Real Time (Penny)
Aug 5, 2010 20:53:11 GMT -5
Post by Joshua Bernstein on Aug 5, 2010 20:53:11 GMT -5
Trips to the Supermarket were never quick affairs no matter how little one had to purchase. There would always be that one person with the million items who then had to fetch a stack of coupons out of a disorganized purse. Or, as was the current case, someone had failed to read the very plainly posted notice that ID was required to buy alcohol and thought that arguing with the cashier would result in a change of rules. Just because she was very obviously older than he was did not mean the cashier could willfully ignore the rules of the store, and Josh wished that she would acknowledge this and continue on her way rather than giving some sob story about the hotel staff forgetting to return her ID after they checked her in. Would it really be that difficult to go ask them to return her ID and then come back for the beer? If one of the other lanes were open he would have ditched the one he was currently in, but no, of course management had decided that only one cashier was needed for the day -- or else they'd all called in sick. He preferred to blame management.
As it was apparent the line was moving nowhere fast he grabbed one of the tabloids off the magazine rack, thumbing through it in the hopes that drug addicted starlets and forbidden affairs would take his mind off the lack of progress the cashier was making with the nuisance. There was as little substance as he had expected -- reality star dates twenty different guys and isn't committed to any of them! Politician has secret lesbian affair with local Dolly Parton impersonator! Chihuahua sacrifices self to save toddler from the neighbor's escaped python! Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck! He could do without photos of anorexic "beautiful" people coiled about one another, without captions proclaiming how the same anorexics were gaining weight and now too fat to work, and without the implication that his sexuality was gossip fodder.
He flipped through the pages with dismay, wondering if there were any redeeming articles in the entire magazine when an image caught his eye. It wasn't a celebrity, it wasn't food, it wasn't an adorable animal. No, it this was an image of angry looking adults waving poorly spelled signs. He peered closer, raising the magazine to his face until the tip of his nose was almost touching the pages. Protesters! Unless they were protesting celebrities in rehab or off brand clothing then this was the sort of article he hoped to see in a magazine of quality -- even poor quality.
"Ugh!!" He exclaimed as he read the (very short) accompanying article, nearly crumpling the magazine in disgust. No. NO. People were not supposed to protest against equality. "Can you believe this?!" He demanded, whirling to face the young woman behind him and shoving the magazine under her nose and pointing. "How is this allowed? How can people oppose the punishment of someone who injured another human being? Self-defense! Just because the young man he put in the hospital happened to walk through a wall in front of him? Who in their right mind would even support such an absurd claim?!"
As it was apparent the line was moving nowhere fast he grabbed one of the tabloids off the magazine rack, thumbing through it in the hopes that drug addicted starlets and forbidden affairs would take his mind off the lack of progress the cashier was making with the nuisance. There was as little substance as he had expected -- reality star dates twenty different guys and isn't committed to any of them! Politician has secret lesbian affair with local Dolly Parton impersonator! Chihuahua sacrifices self to save toddler from the neighbor's escaped python! Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck! He could do without photos of anorexic "beautiful" people coiled about one another, without captions proclaiming how the same anorexics were gaining weight and now too fat to work, and without the implication that his sexuality was gossip fodder.
He flipped through the pages with dismay, wondering if there were any redeeming articles in the entire magazine when an image caught his eye. It wasn't a celebrity, it wasn't food, it wasn't an adorable animal. No, it this was an image of angry looking adults waving poorly spelled signs. He peered closer, raising the magazine to his face until the tip of his nose was almost touching the pages. Protesters! Unless they were protesting celebrities in rehab or off brand clothing then this was the sort of article he hoped to see in a magazine of quality -- even poor quality.
"Ugh!!" He exclaimed as he read the (very short) accompanying article, nearly crumpling the magazine in disgust. No. NO. People were not supposed to protest against equality. "Can you believe this?!" He demanded, whirling to face the young woman behind him and shoving the magazine under her nose and pointing. "How is this allowed? How can people oppose the punishment of someone who injured another human being? Self-defense! Just because the young man he put in the hospital happened to walk through a wall in front of him? Who in their right mind would even support such an absurd claim?!"
