Ran into a security guard at the old Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights who just wanted to talk

3 comments

3 Comments

Yeah, the part about people just vanishing into those jobs. My buddy knew a janitor at his office who was a concert pianist back in Poland. You'd just see him emptying trash cans, but he could play anything from memory if the break room piano was open.

hayden7091mo ago

Honestly it makes me wonder how many people just vanish into those jobs. That guard probably sees hundreds of people a day but almost no one actually sees him back. It's a weird kind of lonely where you're surrounded by people. I bet he had a whole life before that uniform, maybe he worked in one of the stores that closed. Now he's just part of the building, waiting for someone to stop and talk for a minute.

alex_nguyen1mo ago

Reminds me of this older guy who worked the night shift at a 24 hour copy place near my old apartment. Always had a thermos of coffee and a crossword puzzle book. One night my printer died right before a deadline. He helped me for like an hour, didn't even charge me for the extra paper. Told me he used to be a high school math teacher. Just needed the quiet after the kids left home. Never saw him again after that neighborhood got expensive. Makes you wonder about all the quiet people holding things together.