Do You Have a Light?

I’ve chosen my late-night dog-walking path in order to avoid people, but sometimes you meet them anyway.  Tonight (March 31st), Jasper and I encountered a man pulling a roller bag down a dark residential street and randomly-dropping some kind of metal bar on the pavement. It was hard to tell in the dark, but he seemed to have a goatee. 

“Do you have a light?” he asked. When I said no, he persisted with the question. I explained I didn’t smoke. That annoyed him. “I have to walk a long way; without nicotine! There was a time when everyone had a light, but these days everyone steals my lighters, and now no one can start a fire. I hate Sacramento! I hate this f***ing world!” 

Yes, there was a time when everyone wore a smile and could instantly start conflagrations, but the world has since grown cold and dark. All we can do these days is stare at our phones. 

(I may have seen the guy again this morning. He was standing at the street corner, frozen stiff like a statue, staring at the roof of a Porsche auto repair business, where a homeless guy named Grant had had a standoff with the cops several years ago. I hope he’s not thinking similar thoughts.)