spacious skies - 22. ingersoll

by american joe

part 22 of 40

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i am the saddest, most unhappy man in the world, doctor. doctor dee smiled. but you are the richest, most famous person in the world, mr ingersoll, he said. is that what i am paying you for, doctor? if i told any person passing by in the street that i was sad and unhappy they would give me the same answer. but you do not pass people by in the street, mr ingersoll. you are surrounded by bodyguards and beset by paparazzi wherever you go. yes, of course. it was just a manner of speaking. i understand. but you have given me an idea. why not go out in the street, anonymously, and mingle a little bit with so-called ordinary people? i am not saying it would be a magical cure-all, but it might give you a different perspective on your troubles, at the very least. but i would be recognized. bah. a man of your wealth can surely hire an expert on disguise to provide you with something not only effective but comfortable. and if you choose to dispense with bodyguards or security, who is to deny you? no government , no doctor, no insurance company can tell you what to do. mr ingersoll considered this. i suppose i could give it a try. i could have security, but at a discreet distance, the biggest problem would be a leak from someone in my security service, who are a worthless bunch of slackers always looking for a quick buck from the unprincipled and intrusive media. well, that is all up to you, but why not give it a try? tell me, if i do try it, do you think i could i just walk up to ordinary people in the street, and start conversations with them? just yesterday, my political analysis team presented me with a detailed report on what they termed the atomization and alienation of the mob - of the public. you have a point. i would not just walk up to people and try to talk to them. it just isn’t done, and has not been for a long time. not in the so-called developed world, anyway. a bazaar in turlkestan or mongolia maybe. but you might try riding buses or trains, or hanging around bars or cafes. that is still a possibility. or fast food places. or donut shops, you can often find people to talk to in them. homeless people, the doctor added, but only to himself. he picked a small notebook up off his desk. aloud, he said - about those dreams you recounted on your last visit… * a few days later. mr robert ingersoll, the richest and most famous, and most powerful man in the world, was seated by himself in a pete and jenny’s in a large midwestern united states city. pete and jenny’s was a new fast food franchise specializing in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but also offering a “large selection” of “nutritionally balanced and healthful” foodstuffs. mr ingersoll owned a controlling interest in it. following doctor dee’s advice, mr ingersoll had been made up by the world’s greatest and most expensive disguise expert and was hopefully unrecognizable. two members of his private security force were lurking outside, and two more would enter the restaurant at discreet intervals. at this point mr ingersoll’s story becomes problematic. a number of different strands of the narrative later developed. none of them went unchallenged. but perhaps all or most of them might receive some consideration. next