False Predictions

Dear Shooters of the Breeze,

How did the phrase 'shoot the breeze' ever come about? And how does it relate to talking nonsense that you think really deep and soulful (+/- influence of a hallucinogen)?

There's a security guard who only works nights, and unlike me, he works every single night (I get 7-on-7-off). I think he emigrated from some African country or maybe from the Caribbean. His accent is fairly thick, but he has such a grand smile even with teeth that has never seen the light of a dentist's office.

Every now and then he comes over to the pharmacy to buy a candy bar or just to say hi. Sometimes he asks about what's the best thing for such and such condition. A couple of nights ago, we had a conversation about his schedule. That's when I learned that he didn't have nights off. Ever.

I ask the question that everyone asks me: 'Isn't it hard working nights?' He said when he gets home, he gets to take his daughter to school, and he picks her up a couple of hours later. He only gets like 5-6 hours of sleep a day.

So the conversation turned to what he'd do if he were to leave the job:

Security Guard (SG): My job, it's not going to be necessary in the future.

me: How's that? We're always going to need security.

SG: In the future, people will be more well off. Why would they steal a candy bar if they have $5 in their pocket? What's the point?

me: I guess. But some people just like to steal.

SG: Yes, but I think it's the culture around it. If people weren't poor, they would not need to steal.

[I like his idealism. A little naive, but very noble.]

SG: We will always need food and healthcare. People will always get sick, and people need to eat. Security? Who needs it. I think I might try to go back to school to become some kind of healthcare technologist.
--

Coincidentally, the next night, the night checker came over to the pharmacy with a somewhat concerned look on her face. She asked if anyone had paid for anything at the pharmacy, to which I responded to the negative. Then she recounts her dealings with a well-dressed gentleman who seemed to be a frequent grazer at the grocery store overnight.

Checker: The last time, he kept the sandwich wrapper and asked me to ring it up. But this time, I looked, and I saw him eat something, but when he checked out his groceries, there was no food to ring up. So I thought he might have come get it from you.

me: Nope. Not here.

checker: You know, I think it's the way he's dressed. When you see a homeless looking person come in off the street, people automatically suspect something and are overly cautious. But when some guy in a shirt and tie and overcoat comes in, no one would suspect that he would be shoplifting.

I didn't see the guy personally, but I know that overcoats cost at least 2 bills, and I'm sure a guy dressed like that would have $5 in his pocket. I would like to think the best about people, to hope that we're all good people who've gone astray sometimes. But my fear is that we're all bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling.