davidlook: deluxe junky Wow, somebody got up on the wrong side...

By Cameron Reed

Sunday September 21, 2008

davidlook: deluxe junky

Wow, somebody got up on the wrong side of the crack pipe this morning. Michael and I were enjoying a lovely Sunday on our bikes that started off with breakfast at the Grade A Cafe and a perusal of all the  vintage shops from Granville to Gastown. We were on a good run. I scored a Penguin short sleeve from the The Wildlife Thrift Store, and an olive and burgandy striped turtleneck sweater from Mintage on Cordova.

I don’t ride a bike very often so I’m not sure if leaving it in front of a business is bad practice or not, but throughout our travels we had been locking our bikes together in front of the various stores that we visited without incident.

Eventually we wound up in Deluxe Junk, next door to Mintage. We locked our bikes together and leaned them up against the bars that covered the window of the store. Once inside, I quickly had this great little blue/grey checked scarf wrapped around my neck and was doing my obligitory pouty face poses in front of the mirror while enjoying my general awesomeness when I heard Michael yelling outside. Assuming that our bikes were being stolen I ran outside to see what was going on. What we were dealing with however was not a theif, but the owner of Deluxe Junk, who was clearly out of his fucking mind.

By the time I arrived on the scene Michael had gotten the bikes away from the crazed proprieter who only seconds before was in the process of throwing them across the sidewalk. Questioning the logic of why he would engage in such an act rather than sensibly moving them away from the store, or better yet, coming in to ask us to move them was lost on this poor soul who had worked himself into such a tizzy that we were more concerned with our safety than supporting the logic of decent behavior.

I was terrified. He had a cast on his left arm and obvious hospital rigalia in the form of an intravenous patch and id bracelet on his other wrist. Still, the fact that he was in obvious disprepair didn’t stop him from spitting vitriol all over the place and taking a run at Michael with a raised fist inside the store when we needed to go back inside to get our stuff.

He was violently screaming and stunting the whole time we were getting our bikes unlocked so that we could get the hell out of there. I told him that he must be having a bad day and that maybe it would be best to come back and spend my money in his store at a time when he’s not feeling so bad, at which point he responded with a suggestion that Michael and I go to the beach “and drown ourselves.”

I was seriously concerned for my safety and suggest that you think twice about ever going to Deluxe Junk at 310 Cordova Street as it is obviously run by a man who has come unhinged from reality. And on such a wonderful, sunny, Sunday. The poor fellow. If you know someone that has anger management issues please share this link with them, as the world would surely be a better place if we were all a little nicer to each other. Let’s be careful out there, shopping is getting dangerous.