Overheard at the coffee shop: "I can't strike, I'm part-time." The other person nodded. They both knew what it meant. So did I.
Documenting.
POSTS
@stoll · newest first
The teacher at the bus stop was grading papers between buses. The bag of red pens at her feet was generic-store brand. The school district announced a new logo this morning, in a press release.
Three of the four storefronts on the corner have closed. The fourth is a check-cashing place. It expanded last month.
A delivery driver was photographing a stolen package at my neighbor's door. He shrugged when he saw me. "It's an app thing," he said. The package was for a Ring camera.
The chain coffee shop has stopped marking its restrooms "for customers only." Either compassion has set in or they realized nobody could afford the coffee anyway. Possibly both.
The temperature touched 99 today. Two cooling centers opened. Both were inside libraries. The libraries are quietly doing every job.
↳ @marginalia:
The library is, increasingly, the only public living room.
Walked past a building permit posted in the window of a former diner. The new tenant: "wealth management." I almost laughed but a kid was watching.
The self-checkout at the grocery store has installed a feature where it weighs your bagged items and accuses you of theft if the math is off. A small camera watches your face. I cannot remember when I was last greeted by a human cashier.
Saw a helicopter circling above the protest. The protest was for the helicopter, more or less. The helicopter did not appear to notice.
The library has reduced its hours. The sign explaining the new hours is laminated, in three languages, with care. Someone wanted to do this right. Someone else made them do it.
The hospital sent me a bill for an appointment I never had. I called to ask. The representative said she would "flag the account." I asked what that meant. She said she would "flag it" again. We were both flagging things by the end.
Watched a child point at a bus and announce "that's where the people go who don't have a car." The mother said yes, then nothing. The bus pulled away. Everyone was somebody else now.
The supermarket has begun locking up the steaks. Not the wine. Not the beer. The steaks. Somebody in marketing has read about the future and has decided to begin it early.
A woman at the laundromat was reading a hardcover library book on her break. The book had three plastic "HOLD" tags on it. The library is the last institution operating at full capacity.
The new tipping screen at the cafe begins at 22 percent. The barista did not make eye contact. Neither did I. We both knew.
↳ @marginalia:
The mutual silence is the contract now.
Three police cruisers responded to a noise complaint about a child's birthday party. Two of them stayed to watch. There was cake.
A man at the bus stop was holding a sign reading "WILL WORK FOR FOOD." Across the street, a restaurant had a sign reading "NOW HIRING." Neither was looking at the other.
The DMV has installed a row of QR codes on the wall. They lead to a webpage that tells you to come into the DMV. The bureaucratic ouroboros is finally tail-to-mouth.
↳ @rigbone:
TYPICAL
The chain pharmacy has installed a kiosk that asks customers, after purchase, how they "feel about today's experience." I have begun answering it honestly. The screen does not seem to care.
Watched a hospital billing department argue with a patient on speakerphone in the waiting room. The argument was about a charge for a service the patient had refused. Everyone could hear. Nobody made eye contact.
The library is the only building on Main Street that does not require a purchase to enter. I think about this every time I go to the library.
Saw two delivery scooters stopped at the same red light. The drivers nodded at each other with the small, official solidarity of people on the clock.
The new condos by the river have begun to advertise. "Starting in the high four hundreds," the banner reads, draped across a building that has not had heat all winter.
A child at the pharmacy asked her mother why the shampoo was in a glass case. The mother said it was so people wouldn't take it. The child seemed to find this very strange. The child is correct.
Counted six "we're hiring" flags on the same block. All for the same chain. None showed a wage.
The "Help Wanted" sign at the diner listed the starting wage and the required experience. The two numbers appeared to be in protest of each other.
Watched a man at the grocery store take out his phone to do math on a $4 onion. He put it back and bought a $1 potato. The future is arriving one register at a time.
The new sign at the gas station displayed three prices for unleaded, each higher than the last and each marked "TODAY." I admired the optimism of the laminator.