On any old walk to work, Julio would pass at least 5 works of graffiti. Though certainly not annoyed by the artwork (in fact he thought the graffiti added a background flavor to the neighborhood that he rather appreciated) there was only one piece that really stood out to him. It was a smirking face painted on the base of an otherwise industrially metallic lamp post.
Julio liked to think that this smirking face gave the lamp post a kind of character that stood in opposition to its standard construction and very corporate position just outside the CVS. The face seemed to say “Of course I do my job, but I’m certainly not one of them.”
One day, Julio turned the corner to see that a slight flourish had been added to the smirking face. Just above the curve of the grinning cheek, there was a small scar that Julio thought was made of shimmering white paint.
Being that the face was a sort of daily reassurance to him, Julio was a little annoyed at this change. He inspected the face a bit more closely and discovered that, rather than being paint, the the scar was actually a small divot in the metal that gave the face a more rugged, though not unappealing, look.
At first, Julio was put at ease by his close inspection. The scar was added by the hands of time and not some malicious actor that, only moments ago, he was ready to chastise for this ridiculous act of vandalism. Julio shrugged thinking “this makes old lampy look a little more dignified,” and continued on his way, a small grin added to his own face.
As the days and months went by, other divots and scratches appeared on the smirking face until Julio realized it no longer appeared to be smirking at all. Instead, the face just looked tired and, well, old. Still, Julio considered this to be the natural way of things and always gave the face an appreciative little series of pats as he walked by.
On one particularly sunny day, Julio was contentedly whistling a new tune as he walked to work, but was jerked to a stop when he came across the face. The sun was beating down upon it at just the right angle for Julio to see how exhausted it had become. White pocks marred every curve and crease of the face. Julio’s hand instinctively went up to his own face palpating old pores and new wrinkles and searching for signs of damage.
His inspection complete with no surprises, Julio tried to shake the strange feeling that the face had thrust upon him. He looked down at his watch and remembered that he had to hurry or he’d be late for work. As he restarted his determined walk, he took steps to restore his good mood, mindfully focusing on his gait, the pleasure of the morning sun, and the chirping birds. Just as he felt he was getting his groove back, a giant sign outside the CVS slingshotted him back into unease. “WE’RE EXPANDING” declared the sign and Julio couldn’t help but let his mind wander to thoughts of opportunities, opportunity costs, and opportunities lost.
The next day, construction of the expanding mega pharmacy began and the exhausted lamp post was unceremoniously removed. It was gone, but so was Julio.