The Saga Continues

I know, I know. I should stop with the camera drama already.

But this story's a wee bit different from my previous two. In fact, this story involves my actual capturing of the broken Reality Bites CD.

Yes, that's right — I got it!

But as previously mentioned, I worked it up so much, the "reality" truly does fall short of any preconceived notions of what the picture should be (I blame myself for that).

But this isn't one of those "I-just-heard-the-juciest-rumor-but-I-can't-tell-you" type entries, either.

Rather this is, if nothing else, another tale of irony.

***
I was doing my laundry last night — a chore that you've likely heard me rant about before. It's not that I mind doing my laundry, per se. I just hate having to go to a busy laundromat to do it. First there's the task of lugging two unwieldy containers — detergent stacked on top — down the stairs and out of three sets of doors. Then there's the task of making room in the car, driving to the laundromat in the (sometimes doomed) hope of having enough available washers and dryers to complete the task in a decent time.

Between lack of availability, trouble finding parking and washers and dryers breaking down in the middle of a load, doing laundry is — for me — generally a three hour commitment. Four if you add in folding time.

So, yes, "laundry day" is generally my least favorite day of any given week. If by chance any other day winds up being worse... then. Well. Then that's a really bad week.

But I digress.

I took my semi-dysfunctional camera with me, thinking I might take a bit of a walk in search of the now-legendary CD.

So I threw my clothes "into the wash" (as my grandmother says) and took a slight detour in the necessary direction, thinking the chances of it still being there were pretty slim.

But as luck would have it, this city doesn't clean its streets anywhere near as often as they claim. And as I made my way past the Dunkin' Donuts cup. The (presumedly empty) box of Tampax... the dirt-stained plastic wrap.... and about a dozen other items of refuse, I found my precious CD, still broken (naturally). And still nestled into the same bed of chlorophyll-drained leaves. The only change, really, was that it was no longer propped up against the exposed root.

Time was working against me, however. It was already dark by this point, and I didn't have a tripod. And when you use the flash on an reflective item, it's bound to either drown out any text... or illuminate every spot of dirt on the surface.

So I took a shot. And then another. And another. Changing my settings all the while (to see what worked best) until a man — who had pulled up behind me, removed groceries from his car and proceeded to a gate — turned around and said:

"Excuse me. But may I ask what you're doing?"

I was embarrassed for a moment as I proceeded to tell him about my (possibly clinical) neurosis (that is to say, my obsession for irony and my need to capture such things with a camera).

He asked more questions. Like "Do you take pictures of anything else?" and "How long have you been taking pictures like that?" and "Have you ever thought about taking pictures professionally?"

I pointed to my camera, mentioning that it wasn't exactly a tool widely used by professionals. I said it wasn't a talent, just a hobby. But that maybe if I ever improved my skills, or my equipment...

He paused.

I could actually see a look of consternation of this stranger's face. Like he was thinking of saying something. And then changing his mind. And then thinking again...

"You know, I just started a business. And we're looking for a photographer."

"Oh, really?" I said. "What kind of business?"

"Advertising, actually."

He returned to his car, in search of his business card.

The end result of which was, ultimately, a job offer.

And all because of a silly, broken CD.
***
Before you ask: I'm very cynical about things such as this and will most definitely proceed with caution. I mean, I don't really know how to take a good picture. And I presently have no way of confirming this company is legit.

In which case, I don't expect a career-switch to result from this. Worst case scenario, this chance encounter makes for an interesting end to the story. Best case scenario, I moonlight to earn a little extra cash.

And I might use that to purchase my very own washer and dryer...