I'm driving home tonight and something tells me to get off the Toll Road in Tysons instead of driving straight back into the District. So I do. Then the little voice says to go to Tower. So I do. Then the little voice guides me back towards the magazine rack, where I spy McSweeney's #4. So I grab it. They also have The Baffler #13, and since I have just recently seen a subscription card for The Baffler at Nicole and Tino's I grab that too. I wander around the magazine rack a bit longer, passing by the DVDs since they're terribly overpriced at Tower (which is why I never shop there) and go to check out.

I'm not paying attention as the guy rings up the items, except I hear him mumble something about "... on sale?" I pay no heed to that remark, but the total is $16 something. I sign the Visa slip and grab my receipt and bag. The McSweeney's has a little green price sticker with the correct price of $22, but it had rung up at the $8 price for issue #3. I leave without complaining, and with a deeply discounted McSweeney's #4.

(2000-03-28)