My psychic experience

I never did get my palm (tealeaves, cards) read, but mother did have lots of friends who did. Once we visited a fortune teller with a couple of mother's friends--just for fun. Most of her friends after she got divorced were single or divorced women and I don't think the psychic had to be too psychic to figure out what they wanted to hear. I imagine that such people are pretty good backyard psychologists anyway, having heard the same story over and over and facing the same kind of clientele every day.

I know that we who worked in the library faced patrons whose problems we could anticipate before they opened their mouths, and I imagine the fortune tellers have the same experience.

My fortune-teller came at me from a different and somewhat circuitous route. I parked my beaten up old car in the supermarket parking lot one day, and when I came out a man offered to fix the car body in my driveway. I agreed, and he told me to order the part from a dealer, which I did. When the part came in, I called him.

The man could have been sent from central casting; he looked exactly as a gypsy is supposed to look: dark complexion, dark eyes, and wearing a lot of gold in the form of chains. He called me and asked me to come to his house, so I did. The house, on a formerly residential but now heavily traveled commercial street, had a big sign in front advertising a psychic. I had driven by it many times and often wondered about it.

He called me back with a price and suggested that cash would suit him fine. So I took my body part and went over. While he fixed my car, I sat in the kitchen with his wife. To pass the time, she offered to tell my fortune at a very reasonable price and I agreed, to pass the time. Her reading revealed nothing new or startling and I spent the remaining time watching her husband whack and bang my car back into shape.

I'm assuming they were gypsies; at least they lived up to the stereotype. So if they weren't, I offer my apologies. I paid the asking price in cash and never saw them again.

I will say that, gypsy or not, he fixed the car at a reasonable price and didn't overcharge me as various dealers have over the years. I can't feel too sad over the sad plight of said dealers, judging by the way they treated me. The gypsy was a pleasure to deal with, in comparison.