It was weathered Ford 1960s station wagon that looked like it was held together and driven on will

power more than internal combustion. There was hardly a square inch o its aded white!gray surace
that hadn"t been beaten or battered until it looked more like crumpled oil than car body panels. The
ront grill was missing so that the leaky radiator glared out# with a bumper hanging at an angle that
reminded me o a smirk# so what i I"m ugly and old# I"m all he"s got# it seemed to say.
The driver had hardly more color# e$cept in the large leopard like liver spots that reckled his bald head.
% thin ringe o hair clung to the back o his skull too tired to let go# or perhaps held in place by the
same sheer will that had allowed the old station wagon to make one more trip. &e sat at a table in the
'c(onald"s# worn plastic disposable shopping bags spread out beore him# I guess containing the
remnants o his lie. )ne held a newspaper# which had been olded and reolded until the paper had
worn thin. &e took it out and laid it on the table# but did not bother to read rom it.
% large pair o heavy black horn rimmed glasses lay on the table# medium thick lenses reracting the
light onto the newspaper# their shape a reminder that horn rims had not always been ironically *hip+ but
had once been the real *in+ thing. &is overcoat had originally been tan# and was o a once e$pensive
abric# possibly silk blend# or cashmere# but time# and soil had turned it into a motley kind o
camoulage pattern. ,einy# swollen# pasty# liver spotted ankles e$tended sockless rom the tops o a pair
o o$ blood Florsheim wingtips that had been polished thin and ran up to a pair o black trousers with a
crease that had been pressed almost through the paper thin abric o what once had been a nice business
suit. The -acket matched# and the tie was the e$act same color o black# tied in a perect .indsor and
tucked neatly beneath a well pressed# but soiled collar.
This man was a contradiction in terms# his dirty# calloused hands told o the years o manipulating the
old car to lie with the odd assortment o screwdrivers# pliers# hardware# bailing wire# belts# hoses#
spark plugs and duct tape that illed the dashboard o his prehistoric Ford. /ut in his manner was
something else. The conidence o a man that was accustomed to being respected. 0ot a demanded# or
even e$pected respect# but a hard earned respect that came rom years o service# rom knowing your
customers parents# and their parents beore them. The kind o conidence that only comes rom
growing into a amily business# or working your way up to civic leadership under small town public
scrutiny. There was no pride here# but a quiet sense o dignity# which seemed slightly out o place.
The man sat silently sipping his soda# his long# bone thin ingers wrapped around the cup# revealing
knuckles swollen rom work# and thin# almost translucent skin that barely held the blood in. &e seemed
completely at peace with his situation# as i his entire day had gone e$actly according to plan# he was
e$actly where he was supposed to be# doing what needed doing and there seemed to be no sense o the
weariness one might e$pect in such a man. &e seemed happy. 0ot in the outgoing sort o way that
some people have# as i they wanted desperately to inect others# to convince themselves# or someone
else that they were indeed content# -ust happy.