After a long hiatus Very Black Man wandered back in this morning while I was pricing out a big pile of books. He took up a Lee Child book by the register and launched into an interminable mumbled monologue the heart of which was "Jack Reacher...Jack Teacher...heh heh heh!" repeated ever few seconds.
Other than the brief glance which determined his identity I ignored him absolutely for the next several minutes. His prattling didn't stop until he wandered back out, having failed to gain any purchase.
Only to return a half hour later. I ignored him again (it was a really big pile of books). He left again.
And returned.
This time I was in the middle of a buy from a regular, an eccentric older fellow with a signature hat who always brings in GREAT stuff. VBM wandered in blathering and I kept chatting with my regular, who being a little hard of hearing didn't register the interloper at all.
Eventually we concluded our business and my eccentric left. I went back to pricing, VBL went back to blabbering. Another regular arrived, also hard of hearing- the old gal whose husband really, really likes James Lee Burke. We chatted over the bubbling brook of VBL's, she found a few books and somehow shouldered him away from the counter without seeming to take any notice of him at all- impressive, given he's almost my size and she's an elderly maybe five feet in tennis shoes.
She bought her books and bade me a cheery farewell and I returned to my pricing.
VBL seemed crestfallen by this experience, his monologue growing sporadic. I kept pricing and ignoring him. Eventually he fell silent. A while later he left.
Hasn't been back since.
Perhaps the sight of the store will henceforth fill him with an uneasy sense of negation, subconsciously steering him away.
Here's hoping, anyway.
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