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lyrics

its 7:15, it's snowing, and it's tuesday
so the cinnabon line at the dufferin mall was pretty sleepy
just me and one other person
she looked tired and maybe a bit sad, I can't be certain

but we shared a moment so human
she glanced at me while the cinnabon guy ran her credit card through and
I kinda smiled, a sad sorta smile like "hey
we're both middle aged people in a cinnabon line alone on a tuesday"

she kinda laughed and gave me the most genuine smile
it said "don't worry buddy this is life we're not on trial
nobody here to judge if we're getting cinnabons by ourselves in the evening
no one to say hey guys don't you think you should be out people meeting"

I was so struck by the simplicity of her message
conveyed with the slightest motion of her face in my direction
and suddenly I felt like the dufferin mall was my home
surrounded by a family I had never met and didn't know

I finished my cinnabon and started feeling pretty good
thought maybe I'd peruse the h&m and find a jacket if I could
I didn't wanna be rude I was taking up a table at the food court
there was a family there hovering I could tell my time was short

once I got up I realized my legs felt a bit thick
I guess that cinnabon was starting to really take effect
and all that energy I had well it started to drain away
I looked around and I thought "you people aren't my family"

the music was grating and I needed to get out
sweating in my coat in the dollarama line I wanted to fucking shout
and at the moment when all hell was gonna break loose inside of me
I had another moment with a person that made me feel empathy

when I was paying for kleenex the lady at the counter asked if I collected air miles
I thought nothing of it but she suddenly laughed and said "sorry sorry never mind"
I realized that dollarama doesn't do air miles so she must have got confused
with another job, she obviously works at least two

I asked her "do you also work at shoppers drug mart"
she said rexall and I felt both love and pain in my heart
this woman was twenty or thirty years older than me
working two or more shitty jobs at box stores as a cashier

I thanked her for the kleenex and I said "I hope you get a break soon"
she put the bill inside my bag and said "have a nice day" I said "you too"
and I remembered that we're all fucking human
and capitalism is crushing all our souls and we gotta stop consuming

I went back out into the light snow
and for a moment I tried to let go
of the certainty with which I know
that this world is crushing every person I hold close
I went back out into the light snow
and dreamt of a place I would like to go
where we took care of one another and never let go
of the the knowledge that we're in this together and we're better together than alone

credits

from Coral Linus: Memories of the World That Was, released December 23, 2020

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Tyler Shipley Toronto, Ontario

Tyler Shipley was the founding member of the Consumer Goods (theconsumergoods.bandcamp.com) and now performs as a solo artist.

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