LETTER 29
The Counter
A fictional letter from Management.
Written
Management fitted a visitor counter over the shop door.
We went out and came back. The display said two.
A woman came in for a hundred grams of coffee.
We weighed it onto a square of paper.
“Could you step outside for a moment?” we asked.
She looked at the coffee.
“Just while we clear this.”
She went out. We held the button until the display showed zero.
“Now come in.”
It said one.
We asked her to go out again and come back in. It said three.
“There.”
“Is that mine?” she asked, pointing at the scale.
“Of course. One more time.”
She picked up her empty shopping bag and went out.
The display said four.
We waited by the button.
The coffee was still on the scale.
Management