Library patrons can be interesting people. A lady checking out her books started a totally random conversation with me by asking if I knew why Rome fell. Before I could answer, she told me. Apparently the rich people all started drinking too much wine and eating lots of cheese (she was very obsessed with their eating of cheese!). They were so busy eating cheese that they didn’t have any time to run the country, so the poor people had to do it. “And that left no one in charge with any brains!”
Me (still considering cheese’s unexpected role in Rome’s downfall): “Um….”
Her (walking away and suddenly realizing what she’d said): “Not that I mean poor people aren’t smart! They are…they’re….” At a loss for words, she quick-walks out the door, clutching her books.
Out of Eden 