"I've
seen things you people wouldn't believe. Shower curtains.....Hanging
on the wall at Macy's." .....From the new movie, Mall Walker.
I had just moved across the country. Everything was new again. I did
not know where anything was. Even the ocean was on the wrong side
of the bed. It was virgin territory. It felt great.
This morning I was on a mission. I was headed deep into hostile territory.
I needed things for my new apartment. I was going to the mall.
As I shut off the engine of my car I took stock. I was armed with
cash for quick hits and credit cards for heavy resistance. My attention
field was sharp, like a sword (okay, the sword needs a little sharpening).
My first stop was Macy's. I needed a shower curtain. I entered the
store by the normal means. I wanted to blend in. To look like a shopper.
Come to think of it, I was a shopper.
I quickly ascertained location of my destination, Bath accessories,
third floor. I threaded my way to the central escalators, zigzagging
around slow moving shoppers. Few took notice of my passing except
for the cute young lady at the perfume counter who wanted to sell
me a little more then perfume. Clearly she succeeded because I still
remember her. In any case, I reached the escalators more or less safely
and rode them up two floors. As I approached level three I prepared
myself. I cleared my mind of thoughts of perfumed maidens and softened
the focus of my eyes. The idea is to gaze at everything in front of
you without focusing your eyes on anything. As I came out on level
three I immediately went into action. Gazing straight ahead with my
eyes I swiveled my head at the neck and scanned the floor. The third
floor was a large open area separated into different sections, bed,
bath, kitchen, lights, etc. There were dividing walls between some
of the sections. I SAW the curtains to my right at 2 o'clock. They
were hanging on a dividing wall between the bath and lighting sections.
I could SEE them clearly from my position at the top of the escalator.
I began to thread my way through the displays toward them. To get
to them I had to pass through the lighting section. As I moved I focused
my eyes on the objective. The dividing wall was covered with lights.
I could not see any shower curtains. I reached the end of the wall
and passed from the lighting section into the bath section. As I rounded
the wall I found the shower curtains on the far side. I could not
have seen them from the top of the escalator. But I did SEE them.
