Odd Characters

The man I call "Cookie man" came in today. He's different from "cookie guy" in that cookie guy came in one night and stole a cookie from the cafe, while Cookie man pays for what he buys. He just buys stuff that makes me think he is either a) mentally a child, or b) attracted to children.

My first encounter with him was several months back. His age is hard to guess, probably forties or fifties. He is pretty much nondescript: tall, a little pale, always wears a hat. I call him Cookie Man because he often buys a magazine called Cookie. It's some family magazine. Why is that weird? Because something about him tells me is not a father, or a grandfather. Maybe he's an uncle. Maybe. His merchandise is always kid's stuff. For instance, today he was buying a Disney CD. I don't mean something respectable, like a soundtrack. I mean like something from the Disney Channel. It featured a bunch of kids singing. Everything he gets is always like that. Like, if he were buying this stuff for kids, he'd be buying stuff for himself too sometimes, right?

The weirdest thing about him though--and I didn't realize this until today--is that he never speaks. I haven't ever heard his voice. He nods and smiles. That's it. That's why I think he probably just operates on a child's level. Anyway, I hope that's the case and that he's not some pedophile. And if he is a pedophile, I hope he's just using this stuff to jerk off to, and he's not to lure some children into his house and/or car. That's probably a weird thing to hope.