For reasons unknown to me, this guy that used to work at the Safeway on 15th for years and years just popped into my head. He had had some kind of operation that left him without an ear, and generally wore a bandage over it, and a brown, broad-brimmed hat. He also wore a device in a holster on his hip that I took for some sort of obscure grocer’s stocking tool. He was always at the store. I recall thinking he must have been working 60-hour weeks on a regular basis.

The last time I saw him, we spoke briefly in the checkout line and I believe I mentioned having a cold or something and working while sick. He laughed, and in a slightly slurred voice said he had been there.

Just after Viv and I moved off the hill, we stopped back by the store on our way up to the far northern reaches of the city, and there was a memorial display. He’d passed away, probably due to cancer. In my mind, I have an imaginary narrative that fills in all the dots – the cancer, the missing ear, the holster, the incredible work hours – and my feelings toward the deceased are deeply respectful and tinged, of course, with regret.

I have no idea why he popped into my mind.