I Found a Brown Paper Sack Left Behind in a Public Restroom (What To Do?)
Photo by With Mahdy
After traveling for hours, I needed to pee,
And stopped at a roadside casino.
I was relieved by the lengthily stream of my wee,
When I dashed into the room marked Bambino.
While I stood all alone to wash my hands
I noticed a lone paper sack.
It had no identifying brands,
And the top was neatly folded back.
Mmmmm! I hummed, as I wondered what to do.
Do I take a peek out of curiosity?
I still wouldn’t know who it belonged to,
But would that be important to me?
I could go tell an attendant,
That it was left behind,
But he may not be so dependent,
On his curiosity to mind.
He may just toss it,
Without looking inside, the bag.
He may not care one little bit,
Because being an attendant was a drag.
What if the bag was full of cash?
After all, this is a big casino.
Should I take the bag and dash?
Or take it to the winner’s window?
Would I, instead, go to a roulette table,
Plunk down some dollar bills,
And then hope I’d be able,
To multiply the winnings for thrills.
I’d be playing with someone else’s money,
And could rake in the dough,
In this place of milk and honey,
And reap what I might sow.
But then what if some mobster came
Looking for his stash.
And then go looking for some dude to blame,
For taking all his cash.
He’d dash about in search of the one,
Who had a brown paper bag,
And he’d likely be carrying a gun,
That he’d hide within a rag.
Would all my winnings be worth it,
If I ended up sprawled on the floor,
With a hole in my gut where the bullet hit,
A bloody trail following out the door?
No, I told myself, but what if the sack holds a bomb?
Wouldn’t that be even worse,
To try and get out in the swarm,
Of panicked people not wanting a hearse?
Or what if the sack merely contains
Someone’s leftover dinner.
How unexciting to see remains,
Of unfinished food turning thinner.
The actual brown paper sack
left in the public bathroom
Photo by Mark Wassenberg
And so, with all those thoughts that came to mind,
For why or why not to look
Inside the sack left behind
With an enormous curiosity hook,
I decided to leave the sack behind,
And just walk out the door
To let someone else’s curiosity be in a bind,
And their Test of Will be scored.