darkflavor

i used to work at the downtown library. newbies would be put on the stacks before being allowed into public space. the stacks are where old or uncirculated books, manuscripts and other bound or unbound printed matter is stored. my job was to fetch these materials if requested, otherwise put them away and organize them. there are two stacks — tier a and b. i was always assigned to tier b (except once) which contained the uncommon and rarely requested materials.
tier b is huge. it is an entire floor from the front of the building to the back. it took me one minute and fourty-seven seconds to walk from one end to the other. there existed row after row of shelves stacked and lined with books. dirty books, musty books — my hands would be dark after spending thirty minutes there handling these things.
i would be alone for hours on a tier. i was able to see and handle some very interesting materials, such a mark twain manuscripts, a small book of photographed beheads, vitalogy, and books worth hundreds and thousands of dollars, along with cryptozoology, paranormal, and other interesting books.
i was able to even read a few novels while “working,” but it was a job and i did have to work. i worked there for about nine months part time while in high school. they employed many other peers and a few old weirdos.

Here is a story from our sequoia trip: while driving up the road that leads to sequoia national part we stopped at a general store on the side of the road about ten miles from the entrance. This is a converted house turned into an “everything” store. There were some very large persevered rattlesnakes and smaller ones displayed in glass containers for sale. There were small sequoia trees for sale, backpacks, camping gear, food, and winter hats.

I went to this store to get a hat and some cash to pay for the park entrance fee. I asked the mature male cashier whom most likely owns the place what the temperature is up at eight thousand feet in the mountains this early in the morning. The store is at about seven hundred feet elevation and the temperature there is about sixty degrees outside.

He says “I have never been in the park so I have no idea” (what the temperature is up there).

He lives about ten miles from the park and has never been in it nor seen the giant trees? OMG

how do people live their lives without experiencing the world around them? i find that disturbing and sad.