Greg Chase and the Smallness of Life, the Universe and Everything

I have always firmly held the opinion that the world is essentially a tiny, tiny place.

Tonight confirms that belief.

You see... another one of my opinions is, that if I stand still long enough in one public place, I will eventually see at least one person that I need to see for my own sanity.

Ever heard of psychic magnetism?

The idea has been around for a long time but was most recently written about in a book by one of my favorite fiction writers... The theory goes like this... if you focus on a person, maybe not even anyone specific, and then you just kind of wander without thinking too much, eventually you will inevitably find the person you are subconsciously seeking.

It's true. It happens to me all the time.

If I'm feeling depressed and unloved (as I was earlier this evening, prior to meeting MCShank for Earl Grey) I will go to some public place, clear my mind, and wander as aimlessly as possible.

Eventually I will run in to just the person I need to see.

Tonight, that person was Greg Chase.

Have I ever mentioned that I love Greg Chase?

So there I was, in the parking lot at Borders, getting ready to get in my car and slog back home, when from across the acres of blacktop, a guy on a bike shouts my name at the top of his lungs. He pedals madly across the intervening distance, and just before he runs headlong into my car, he LEAPS off his bike and throws his arms around me for the best hug this side of the Merrimack River.

We ended up talking for almost an hour while freezing our butts off outside the closed bookstore.

You know me... I generally tell outrageous stories here with just a grain of truth, but the reality of this one was so surreal, I just don't think it needs dressing up.

Greg Chase is the very same man who once told me the inevitable truth of the Tilton paradox. He said,

"Aikens... Tilton is like Las Vegas... Whatever happens in Tilton, stays in Tilton. The only problem is, unlike Vegas, no one ever LEAVES Tilton."

Oh, how right you are my friend.

I love Greg Chase.

I'm just sayin'.