I am in a GameStop in the Fair Oaks mall. White Knight Chronicles is out, a game that I had no real interest in until I realized that it had a Phantasy Star Online element to it.
I’m in line when I think I recognize the manager. I see his name tag and see that his name is Todd, just like the manager of the Electronics Boutique that I used to work weekends over five, maybe six years ago. He is thin, and he looks older and yet younger at the same time.
“Todd?” I try, still unsure. His appearance is so different from the man I knew before.
“Yeah? Oh hey Fil! How are you?”
“Good, good. Man, you lost a lot of weight.”
“Well I had cancer.” The response is fast, matter of fact. I grasp for a response.
“Well had is good, right? Past tense.” It explains why he looks so different.
He laughs and explains. He had paranasal sinus cancer. Five years ago he finished treatment. Now he’s the manager at the Fair Oaks GameStop. He gets me up to date with a couple of the other guys we used to work with. Several others are now managers.
He rings me up and we say goodbye. The file in my head gets updated.
Cancer survivor.