Small Talk

Ted @ 7-11 (Hawthorne)

Ted has been working at the same 7-11 longer than I've lived in Portland.  When I first moved here three years ago, I spent a couple weeks on a friend's couch a few blocks away.  Whenever I needed beer of smokes or whatever, I would walk over to 7-11 and inevitably make small talk with Ted.  He is a master of chit chat, always smiling and being genuinely friendly and engaging.  Quite a few of our conversations revolved around the crazy techno music he would play during his graveyard shifts.  

Years later, he's working at the same location and still smiling.  He took some time in between customers to take a photo outside the store and make small talk.  "Have you ever seen that HBO show, Carnivale?" he asked, "Your cards look just like the ones they use!"  He explained that "Carnivale" is about an old-timey circus sideshow with a daaaark secret.  Tarot cards are often used as a plot device, eerily foreboding events to come.  The Little Man from Twin Peaks also stars in it and therefore it must be good.  Thanks for the recommendation, clerk.