August 13, 2010

Strange Tales – cont. (Stranger Tales???)

Dear Hank,

The conversation with Corey continued and got even stranger. At one point he stuck out his hand and said, “I’m Rick by the way.”
“No, you’re not. I’m Rick.”
“No, I’m Rick.”
Was there any point in arguing with him? Rick decided to try one more time.
“No, I’m Rick. You’re Corey, the kite seller from Nevada.”
“No, I’m Rick the firefighter from Ohio.”
What could Rick do with Corey – now: Rick the Imposter? Had Corey some mental lapse that caused him to assume this false persona? Better to humor him maybe he’d come to his senses.
“Oh, I see you’re Rick from Ohio?”
“Well, I used to be. Now, I’m from South Carolina.”
“Oh, and you’re a firefighter.”
“Used to be, now I’m retired, riding my bike with my buddies.”
“Oh. I see. Well, uh yeah. Okay.”
Rick told me he thought about doing an intervention, wrestling Corey to the ground and slapping him around screaming, “Wake up! Wake up! Get a grip!” but then the guy did have several friends with him and if his friends didn’t realize the delusional state of their traveling companion they might come in on the side of Rick the Imposter, Firefighter retired.
It could get ugly. Better to back away.
“Have a nice day?”
“You too.”

On another note, it appears with this birthday Rick may have lost the ability to count to three, that being the number of ferries it takes to get from Hatteras to Oriental, not two. “But the first one doesn’t count,” he protested. Sounds like rationalization to me.

Take Care,

Bryce