No rage here- your lunch just makes me kind of sad.

I return to the table, stand a couple of steps away, flip the card onto the table and say, in a strong, projecting voice: “The platinum card is declined!”

Oh, God dammit Pinkham.

Sorry- replied to the wrong comment.

Yes- you’re thinking of kuroko or “black-clad figures”. They actually started out as puppeteers in bunraku theater, but were later employed in kabuki to do on-stage costume changes and special effects. In present-day kabuki, the costume changes are usually done by attendants in livery, while the kuroko are only used…

I believe the correct plural is ninjae.

Hm...what?

Theoretically.

I take exception to the term “skeevy.”

WITNESS ME!

“Yeah, I know. Wouldn’t it be fucked up if I beat you to death on your own doorstep?”

The Looooove Stoat

I have bodily thrown people out of an establishment in that manner, but never thought to say that. I’m now disappointed in myself.

Yaaaasssss.

I think “Uncle Bill” Burroughs should be your mascot, along the lines of Colonel Sanders.

I used to collect them. Some of them are completely amazing.

Is Armpit, Indiana anywhere near Butthole...I mean, Hammond?

Yeah, I’m now thinking that if I ever need to kidnap a whole bunch of children at once, I could do worse than a mall bookstore on a weekend.