everything has to change
The Muse Letter No. 163
It’s the 16th of July, 2023. I’m holding a chickpea can in my hand at Lidl. My cart has reached a total of 23.29 pounds. Next to me is a friendly employee who will in a couple of minutes put the can back into its shelf for me. My card has been declined and now this man and I awkwardly stand next to each other as he presses some buttons on the display.
At first he urged me to try the machine again, that this happens from time to time when you tap your card too quickly but I know it is not the machine’s fault that it cannot allow this transaction and after an embarrassingly long second the guy comes to terms with it, too. He nods and deletes the chickpea can from my bill and restarts the process. I tap my card again – approved – finally. I get a notification that my bank account has gone down to 0.12 cents.
It’s all I have at this point. It is my last grocery shop and then – everything has to change.
//
This is how my third book starts. With a point of no r…