It started with the Ovaltine
It started with the Ovaltine. Or at least that’s when I first noticed it. For all I know it could have started with that mysterious shaking in Orange County. What exactly are the repercussions when realities collide? Perhaps these were the shockwaves of all the little nuances shifting place to make way for the alternate universe that just came into being. Perhaps that explains the strange déjà vu the following day when the boy on the Blue Line was hawking stolen copies of Medea, the Greek tragedy we had just seen the last weekend. I mean, does Medea really play well in Compton?
But it was the Ovaltine. There among the shelf with all the other coco-powders and supplements, including other brands of Ovaltine, all completely unchanged since our last visit, except for the one we wanted. New packaging? Sure it happens all the time to keep an old product fresh, but this one seemed out of place, completely unlike the others. I let that one slide.
We were stocking up on dental supplies as recent visits to the dentist revealed a need to change some habits and take on new products - fluoride rinses, flossing devices, and a gel toothpaste. The last one was the rub as we walked up and down the toothpaste aisle trying to figure out which was a gel. Suddenly, in my mind it was the 60’s again and Close Up toothpaste was just introduced into the market, making our breath kissably fresh. Oh if only that still existed, at least then we’d find a gel. It seems my memories invoked the Secret because suddenly appearing where it wasn’t there before was Close-up toothpaste, and the only toothpaste to announce on its packaging that it was a gel.
Then things got really weird. We still needed to hit a pet store and book store before going home. We could find both on Bellflower boulevard a mere block apart form each other. Slowly we drove past where the pet store was. Located behind a bank, it was often hard to tell if it was open or not. Only this time - it was hard to tell if it was there or not. A U-turn into the parking lot and the Pet Store - a complete free standing building - was gone - and gone without a trace. There was a drive through for the bank, the parking lot and a wall to the adjacent residential neighborhood. The other buildings in the complex were still there, same Noah’s Bagels. Only the pet store was gone.
This was when we realized that somehow, some way, the universe had shifted ever-so-slightly as to be completely different than the one we occupied before. So I started to wonder, could we ever go back to our other, previous reality? Did it still exist somewhere? Or did the shaking foretell its collapse and destruction. Then again, I wondered, is this universe worse than the other in any qualitative way? Perhaps this reality was a better one? I thought of the dismal work days I had had earlier in the week compared to the more recent ones - the one’s after the shake - in which I seemed more in control of my destiny. If these slight changes altered things for the better, would I really want to go back?
Still this alternate universe continued to unfold. As we drove off to find another pet store we passed a CompUSA sign. I was surprised to see it lit, since the store had long gone out of business. I had been there as they sold off the last bit of computer detritus along with the furnishings. And I also stopped in during last Halloween, when the place had been transformed into a Costume shop. I laughed and pointed out the sign to Lisa, who responded, “Their last day is Saturday.” I was flummoxed. I had already been to their “last day” heck I had been to the “long gone and replaced with something else day.” And yet it was there. In this universe, it lingers for at least one other day.
Our last stop was Barns and Nobel. We perused some travel books (to find some tips for traveling with our dog ,Thurston) and then went downstairs to look for some architecture books. Only, there were no architecture books to be found. The entire ground floor of this shop, while looking identical in every way, was completely turned around. The inventory had completely shifted. Mysteries had replaced self help, self help had replaced fashion, and fashion, art, and architecture were not to be seen. We found craft books where the sex books once were, and sex books where religion once was. Our expectations could no longer be trusted, everything became suspect.
So I continue to wonder what else has changed, and how will I take it. It seems there’s a brand new world out there and I’ll just have to explore it.
But it was the Ovaltine. There among the shelf with all the other coco-powders and supplements, including other brands of Ovaltine, all completely unchanged since our last visit, except for the one we wanted. New packaging? Sure it happens all the time to keep an old product fresh, but this one seemed out of place, completely unlike the others. I let that one slide.
We were stocking up on dental supplies as recent visits to the dentist revealed a need to change some habits and take on new products - fluoride rinses, flossing devices, and a gel toothpaste. The last one was the rub as we walked up and down the toothpaste aisle trying to figure out which was a gel. Suddenly, in my mind it was the 60’s again and Close Up toothpaste was just introduced into the market, making our breath kissably fresh. Oh if only that still existed, at least then we’d find a gel. It seems my memories invoked the Secret because suddenly appearing where it wasn’t there before was Close-up toothpaste, and the only toothpaste to announce on its packaging that it was a gel.
Then things got really weird. We still needed to hit a pet store and book store before going home. We could find both on Bellflower boulevard a mere block apart form each other. Slowly we drove past where the pet store was. Located behind a bank, it was often hard to tell if it was open or not. Only this time - it was hard to tell if it was there or not. A U-turn into the parking lot and the Pet Store - a complete free standing building - was gone - and gone without a trace. There was a drive through for the bank, the parking lot and a wall to the adjacent residential neighborhood. The other buildings in the complex were still there, same Noah’s Bagels. Only the pet store was gone.
This was when we realized that somehow, some way, the universe had shifted ever-so-slightly as to be completely different than the one we occupied before. So I started to wonder, could we ever go back to our other, previous reality? Did it still exist somewhere? Or did the shaking foretell its collapse and destruction. Then again, I wondered, is this universe worse than the other in any qualitative way? Perhaps this reality was a better one? I thought of the dismal work days I had had earlier in the week compared to the more recent ones - the one’s after the shake - in which I seemed more in control of my destiny. If these slight changes altered things for the better, would I really want to go back?
Still this alternate universe continued to unfold. As we drove off to find another pet store we passed a CompUSA sign. I was surprised to see it lit, since the store had long gone out of business. I had been there as they sold off the last bit of computer detritus along with the furnishings. And I also stopped in during last Halloween, when the place had been transformed into a Costume shop. I laughed and pointed out the sign to Lisa, who responded, “Their last day is Saturday.” I was flummoxed. I had already been to their “last day” heck I had been to the “long gone and replaced with something else day.” And yet it was there. In this universe, it lingers for at least one other day.
Our last stop was Barns and Nobel. We perused some travel books (to find some tips for traveling with our dog ,Thurston) and then went downstairs to look for some architecture books. Only, there were no architecture books to be found. The entire ground floor of this shop, while looking identical in every way, was completely turned around. The inventory had completely shifted. Mysteries had replaced self help, self help had replaced fashion, and fashion, art, and architecture were not to be seen. We found craft books where the sex books once were, and sex books where religion once was. Our expectations could no longer be trusted, everything became suspect.
So I continue to wonder what else has changed, and how will I take it. It seems there’s a brand new world out there and I’ll just have to explore it.