A writer's eye

I observed two details the other day that will probably never find there way into any of my writings, but are worth sharing all the same:

#1
Portsmouth, Ohio - I stopped at a Podunk gas station to grab a Powerade. I handed the overweight store clerk a $5-bill. She checked it with a marker to make sure it wasn’t counterfeit.

“You get a lot of counterfeit 5’s around here?” I asked.

She nods and hands me my change.

This small detail sums up Portsmouth, a depressed town on the banks of the Ohio, better than any description of its streets, storefronts, or residents. It almost makes me want to write an entire story about Portsmouth just so I could build on it.

#2
A fella in a T-shirt driving a shiny black, stretch-limo on the interstate.

His story begs to be written.