Fellow passenger

"Taking a shit within the city limits,"

he said, "is the very definition

of mundane." This is the same man who,

two months later, escaped on safari

and then joined the Peace Corps, as

a way of brushing off his girlfriend.

"Never go back to school. Try

to remain a big deal within your own

mind." He issued too many opinions

but I obliged him all the same.

As if answers would strike us, aboard

the monorail, rather than in time. I

respected him. "For certain stories,"

he said, "the name 'Bob'

just doesn't work, believe me."