Paperclips and other curiosities of life

"There is no paperclip with the forms, I don't know how you want me to keep these papers together" said the ophthalmologist stepping into the reception area. Stein was his name. He called me into the exam room. He was slight in stature, wearing small wire-frame glasses on his aging face. His thin hands flipped swiftly through the papers on the clipboard. He extended his hand to me, and gave me a quick, firm handshake. "Did I get your name right?" he asked, eyeing me up and down. I turned my head slighty. What's in a name? "No" I replied with a smile. He looked at me inquisitively. I obliged. I said my name out loud. The way it is pronounced in my native language. "Ah", he said. And then repeated my name the way I pronounced it. "With a pronounciation like that, it must be Scandinavian". I laughed out loud. He looked at me squarely. "It's German" I replied "but you were close, so close." He looked at me curiously, unsure if I was being fastidious. He shook his head "You are being kind, it's nowhere near close. At all. I'm sure they say it wrong here in Orlando all the time." "Yes, yes they do" I replied "I don't even bother." "How long have you been here?" he asked. "Nine years" I answered. He looked me up and down again. "How old are you?" I told him my age. He shook his head just a bit. "You don't look a day over thirty" he said. I just shrugged my shoulders. "Do you have to head back to work?" he asked. I shook my head no. "I start work at four thirty in the morning. I'm done for the day." He looked at me again. "Ja, I know what you mean. But the good thing is, it's quiet then, isn't it? No traffic, right?" I smiled at him in agreement. "I'm sure you've noticed Orlando isn't that safe?" I laughed out loud again. He looked at me quizzically, as if he was reading my mind. Disney World is a farce. "You know you don't have to stop at a red light." he said. I held my gaze steady on him. "People think they have to stop at a red light. But that time of day, if the light is red and you see something suspicious going on, you don't stop at that red light. You don't worry about that red light. Your safety comes first." He looked at me to make sure I understood. "Mh, just keep going through that red light, is that what you are saying?" I asked. He nodded his head. "Exactly, don't you worry about those red lights". I smiled at him again. He began the exam, moving briskly, taking a few notes. It was over in a couple of minutes. "It was nice meeting you." he said. I smiled at him again. "Thank you" I replied. I got up and left the room. The assistant in the show room finished with the other part of my eye exam. I could hear Stein again, making another comment about the absent paperclips. I noticed the assistant's exasperated facial expression. I chuckled to myself. How could a man so astute about the autocratic infiltration of a coerced society have such shrewd idiosyncrasies? ~•~ a beautiful milieu Image Albert Einstein