Faldoni, parts 2668 - 2671

 2668. The difference between the size of the cat and the relative size of the miners is simply a matter of the optics of perception, and as such it is really unfair to find fault with the misguided thoughts and feelings of the salesman. As someone once said, "If one lived on the moon you might watch an entire continent dissolve and disappear under the waves of the ocean and probably feel nothing but a little curiosity." In the end we are all like that.

 2669. So don’t think badly of the salesman because if the situation were reversed his reactions would be exactly the opposite. Imagine that he is returning to his hotel and the building is surrounded by fire trucks. A crowd has formed and he joins it. He asks a person what is going on. He hears, “The hotel is on fire and six Chinese miners are trapped inside the elevator.”

 2670. Three hours later the miners are led to safety unharmed and wrapped in blankets, a look of terror still in their eyes. As they are brought out they pass quite close to the salesman who has remained rooted to the spot the entire time. He looks one of the miners in the eye from just a few inches away. He can never get that image out of his mind and thinks of it ever after whenever he steps on an elevator.

 2671. That night a cat falls down a well in a remote Provence of China. The towns folk try to rescue it with a net and some poles. The story is on the evening news for some reason...