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I was almost kidnapped as a child in a department store in Atlanta called Treasure Island. I was 5 years old. In those days, it was thought safe to leave your kids on the coloring book aisle while you grabbed a few things. Well, this man came up to me and told me that my mom wanted to see me. We walked around and didn't see her so he told me that she had said for him to take me home. Being totally oblivious I followed him out to the parking lot. He told me to wait on the sidewalk outside the store which I did. When he pulled around front he slowed down a little and then sped away. I guess he got scared. I started crying immediately because I thought I had been left at the store. This old couple found me and took me back inside where they paged my mother. I feel like I escaped death that day. I've always thought about him - who he was, what happened to him, why he was spooked - it's such a mystery. And always a little disturbing to think about it.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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