Brillo® Strip & Shine® Steel Wool Balls

The morning before (under a sackcloth blue sky) the man in the hat pulled his arm through the sleeve of his shirt, twisting his forefinger into a mathematical dilemma. His feet pulled the cold from the Formica tiles, a shiver corseting up his leg and into the joist of his hip. Today I will buy a new hat (he thought); a newsboys’ cap, perhaps a boater or a Sou’wester. The hat-maker Södertörns Högskola, known for his tactile understanding of textiles, came to mind; easing his worries about fineries and aesthetics. Purchasing a hat from the hat-maker Södertörns Högskola required a daylong trip, starting with the cock’s crow and ending under the veil of night. But first he must arrange his belongings in ordered rows; pots, pans and kitchen utensils in one lot, washer rags, Brillo® Strip & Shine® Steel Wool Balls and soap in another, and the morning’s dirty dishes in the sink to soak. ‘…what am I to do…?’ he wiled to himself. ‘…so many things to order and such little time…’. Thinking he heard a knock at the door he went the window. This happened often, phantom knocking, so he went back to ordering and thought nothing of it. Most things, he figured, were slapdash, sloppy, hazardous, messy, clumsy, hasty, careless, shoddy, carried out with little respect for order and timeliness. ‘…only a fool thinks time is orderly and order timely …’ he said, his thoughts on sorting and piling.