January 9, 2004

• OK, I can say, without sounding pompous, that I am one of the most tolerant people you are ever likely to meet. I try not to judge anyone, and I respect their beliefs even if they are not my own. I’m more than willing to discuss my beliefs and their beliefs and any other beliefs objectively and without bias.

  
  

  But oh my gods, last night the creepiest guy came into the store and talked to me for half an hour. Gah, day late for the full moon yah looney! I swear everytime someone made an announcement on the intercom, I hoped they’d be calling for me. Help, rescue! I was shouting psychically.

  
  

  This is where politeness and social convention get you into trouble because this guy really needed to leave, but as an employee of the bookstore and as a polite human being, I didn’t feel like I had any option but to stand there and be totally freaked out by this crazy person. I think if he had been in the same aisle as me, instead of talking over a bookshelf at me, I might have bolted.

  
  

  So I was helping this boy (about 16 yrs old) in the magick aisle, steering him away from the more commercial spell-a-page books and giving some friendly “the-gods-help-those-who-help-themselves” advice. How do you make spells, he asked, if you don’t buy these pre-fab spellbooks, and I proceeded to tell him about the various kinds of spells and that the most important component of a spell was the three R’s (research-research-research). But I also told him that the gods don’t like to give you everything you want because they’re like parents who want to see you succeed on your own. They prefer to give you what you need, but they’re not going to reward you with everything you want because they don’t want spoiled brats any more than your flesh and blood parents do…

  
  

  Anyway, this guy was wandering around as I was speaking and said… “Did you say gods???” Ack, right there… TROUBLE! I knew it. But I had to be polite. No insulting the creepy customers… not good for business. You know, they should really put the Eastern religions next to the magic/metaphysical aisle and move the Bibles somewhere else. Less confrontation with the thumpers and fundies I think.

  
  

  So I said, yes, gods, there are many. And went back to trying to help the boy. But this guy wouldn’t let it go.

  
  

  He started telling me about experiences he’d had with demons and “visions” and signs from God and what did I think of this. Not that he really wanted my opinion. I think he just wanted a therapist. Several things came out in the course of his commentary…

  
  

  He’d been seeing “demons” for years. He’d first seen them in the army as amorphous muddy blobs in humanoid form and ever after as cloaked figures which would attack him while he was sleeping and which when he tried to grab them, felt like jelly (hmmm ectoplasm?). The night-time attacks were basically classic “Old Hag” attacks, which I told him. He claimed to hear things and also see things. I suggested clairvoyance and clairaudience.

  
  

  He’d had “visions” and dreams of an (underage!) neighbor girl, and her mother supposedly made up stories about him to get him arrested and a restraining order set against him. An ex-girl friend also had a restraining order against him. He’d been in prison. He’d spoken to his pastor and subsequently been ejected from his Church. It seemed he tried to suggest that bad things happened to people who went against him.

  
  

  He’d had “visions” and promonitions of danger which had saved his life on more than one occassion.

  
  

  He’d asked for and received “signs” from God on whether he should wait for the girl he’d had “visions” of before her family moved (as far away from him as possible I would assume).

  
  

  I guess you can see why I was so completely creeped out, I was almost afraid to leave the store that night. Everytime a car tailgated me as I drove home, I worried he might be following me. I told everyone at work about him and if I see him again, I have permission to seek help (especially since he didn’t buy anything). I got off at 10, a half hour after he left, and I stayed in the store an extra half hour before I left. I slept badly, but without dreams (thank goodness), and I have an awful headache that will not die.

  
  

  Thank goodness three elderly gentlemen came up and asked for help. They’d walked by once and gave the guy a stare, then kept going. Then they came back and asked me for help. I felt really bad about leaving the boy there alone, but I was pretty sure the guy would leave if I managed an escape and he did, about five minutes later.

  
  

  I apologized to the boy when he came up to the info counter. I felt really bad about leaving him there. The entire time the guy harangued us about his experiences, the poor kid just stood next to me, completely silent and still. I think he was scared to death, like a little mouse frozen by a snake.

  
  

  What do I think about the nutjob? Well, that says it all, eh? Whether or not his visions are real, I really couldn’t say, but do I think they’re from “God?” No, I don’t. If his “demons” are real, I think that his “signs” and “visions” are from them. He confessed to “experimenting” with the occult when he was younger. Nothing worse than someone who experiments without knowing what the heck they’re doing. That’s why research is always paramount. The lunatic probably stuck his demons on himself… if he’s not just schizophrenic.

  
  

  I hope he doesn’t come back. I really, really hope he stays away. Or I might have to resort to drastic measures.

  • 11:53 am
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