Heat.
by tns
So this weekend I sat around watching J’s bargain area in the back of her store during a sale. The July heat was really making it presence noticeable that day. I sat there in a some what luxurious lawn chair by middle-class American standards; fold-able, complete with fold-out shelf thing and cup holder, cushioned armrests. With my iced tea, slowly mixing with the melted ice I sat there, watching people sift through the pile of stuff J wanted to get rid of for some time now. These people dug around the pile in this heat, protected only by a tent and a tarp which all the clothes laid on. I listened to their conversations of riding the bus to somewhere unimportant and running into someone unimportant and blah blah blah. Some would lift one item, then deem the entire pile unworthy of rummaging. Others would meticulously look at every garment to be sure it was nothing they wanted. Then there were those who could spot exactly what they wanted by touching or a glimpse of the sleeve or pant leg.
I tried to stay hydrated. One extra large iced tea and several cigarettes later the rush was over. I still remained in the lawn chair my clothes probably absorbed with the liquids I just consumed. The pile of clothing wasn’t reduced that far down, but what ended up to be four boxes of unorganized clothing amalgamated into a large indistinguishable pile. I felt exhausted, although most of my time was spent sitting. As if my sweat glands and kidneys had pretty much drained the rest of my body of resources just to go into overtime.
I thought about what people did when lawn chairs, tents, tarps and iced tea hadn’t invented yet. I figured someone like myself couldn’t survive normally in this kind of climate alone, yet, I’ve been living here in Southern California for some time now.
I decided it would be worth more effort to go inside to snatch a free cookie or two before we ran out instead of think about how many little survival skills I had.