Tuesday, 09 August 2005 | Not you again

I used to have a cheap woven door mat in front of my apartment, but two-and-a-half years ago, someone stole it. It was the one item that I owned that was not kept inside my apartment (my bike stays inside, and I have no car), and it got swiped. It's actually kind of sad, since it was only worth $3. I'm going to trust that whoever took it was in desperate need of that door mat, and that he or she had a lot of mouths to feed, or feet to wipe, or something. When I discovered that it was missing, I searched all the floors in my building, to see if the thief was dumb enough to set it in the hallway. Not that dumb, it turns out.

I didn't bother getting a new mat (I just leave my door key on the naked floor instead), but yesterday a new mat came to me! Yes, there's now a completely filthy door mat lined up squarely in front of my apartment. It's gray and was (at one time) fuzzy, and it has a black rubber border. Through the dirt, I can barely make out the words, "Oh no! Not you again!"