it's the kind of morning where you destroy all the pictures you took of yourself... it's a brand new day to lose your train of thought, to wonder why your co-workers are all begining to look like errol flynn. the flourescent lights are like chipped daggers sinking into your eyes, and it doesn't really surprise you when your skin starts to crawl away.
-bobby
-bobby
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
So, Bobby, it happened again. For the fourth time in five years (it sounds like a long time, but it's not), I bought a pair of pants or skirt or whatever piece of clothing, and in the pocket was one of those "Inspected By" tags. Now, almost every new article of clothing (and a few of the used ones) I buy has an "Inspected By" tag in it. But usually it's an obscure, large number like 386 or 4099. Once I got a name. But four times now, four times, I've gotten the same inspector for my clothing. Which one was he or she, you ask? What? You don't ask? Well, fuck you, I'm telling you.
Inspector Number 23.
That's right. This one guy has personally inspected four articles of my clothing.
Now, I don't want to sound paranoid here, but what do you suppose it means? Is it just a randomly recurring number? Coincidence? I don't think it can be. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. What's four? Death?
Well, Bobby, this may be the end for me. And I never told you my true name. But don't mourn my passing. Celebrate it as a joyous occasion. There are other worlds than these. At least, Stephen King says so.
On the off chance that I'm not to wake up dead tomorrow, though, don't disregard this message entirely. Take it to heart that there is an answer, and it's not forty-two. It's twenty-three, goddammit. Well, that's all for now, I guess. Chances are I'll be posting tomorrow. If not, though, let them know that I accepted my fate with quiet stoicism.
PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.
PPS: Just to reassure you, I'm not really this crazy. Almost, but not quite.
[Edited on Sep 03, 2003]
And, about seeing whatever you want wherever you look, I don't think that's true in the case of 23. When I first read the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy, I consciously and unconsiously looked for the number 42 everywhere I could. I only found it in a few places, and they weren't very interesting. Twenty-three, however, really is everywhere; granted, it's not as everywhere as I would hope, but it is all around.
Of course, the Hubble Constant thingy was a neat revalation. So maybe the answer is 42, but the question has a few 23s.