Years of Sundays II

“Really,” I said skeptically. I was pretty sure that I would notice if other people were wandering around in top hats.

“Oh yes, I do take it a little further then most of them do though,” he said, noticing my look. “I have the advantage of being my own boss so I can dress however I want. Most people don’t have that advantage.”

“So what do you do?” I asked, trying to imagine a job that would fit his clothing.

“I own a convenience store,” the man told me. I was finally lost for words completely. The image of a man in an old fashioned waistcoat stocking shelves was one that was beyond all expression.

“Don’t your customers stare?” I finally said weakly.

“Sure they do, doesn’t matter to me,” the man in the top hat said shrugging. “The only way anyone can be happy, I believe, is for them to live however they want. I am fascinated by the past, the present and future bore me, I try to pretend they don’t exist.”

“Isn’t that a slightly irresponsible attitude?” I asked. I usually don’t speak so rudely to strangers, I mean I didn’t even know his name, but I was already getting the idea that nothing I said could offend this man. I was right, he just laughed.

“I am happy in my irresponsibility,” the man in the top hat told me cheerfully. “I am not as irresponsible as you seem to think though. Take my business as an example; most stores are only open from nine until five every day, if that. My business is open from seven in the morning until ten o’clock at night. That’s how I hear things used to be done.”

“So you’re old fashioned even in your business?” I asked.

“I like it better like that. It makes it more like a game and less like work. Don’t you ever wonder why we live like we do?” The man in the top hat turned suddenly turned to look at me with intensity that belayed the way he spoke.

“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback.

“I mean why things have changed. Do you think there are reasons for it, or is it just irrational. I don’t believe you could say we have made progress after all, we’ve only changed, and for what purpose?” Again I really didn’t know what to say in response, this man said things that I had never thought of before, and with seriousness.

“I mean what do you do with your life?” The man in the top hat asked me when I didn’t answer him. “How do you define yourself?”

“Well I like to ride horses, and I’m an alright artist?” I stuttered out.

“And what do you do for your job?” he demanded. It was as if he had totally changed personalities.

“I work at a bank as a teller.”

“Exactly, you prove my point. I ask you what you do with your life and your first thoughts are you hobbies. In the past you would have thought of your job first. Strange isn’t it?” the man in the top hat asked, slipping back into his previous, easy tone of voice like nothing had happened. “Now the question is has that change made any difference, has it improved our quality of life at all?”

“Isn’t it good that we are able to relax more?” I asked.

To be continued...