*Eavesdropping in Oxyrhinchites

Category: A Day In The Life Of A Writer

Author comment: I could live in Suzallo.

At the beautiful Suzallo Library on the University of Washington campus, I'm supposed to be researching Jewish race track owners in the United States, past or present. But I'm having trouble concentrating. I'm more interested in the discussion between two rumpled elderly gentlemen at the next table.

Rumpled and elderly - my idea from childhood of what scholars look like. Put yarmulkes on them and they're arguing Talmud. I'm only picking up every seven or eight words and the rest might as well be Yiddish.

I move closer to hear them better. The younger (maybe 80) and more alert of the two looks up sharply. He tries to disguise suspicion by arranging his features more pleasantly. It doesn't work. His original expression is difficult to change at will after a lifetime of facial occupation. This reminds me to smile more often.

He's making me feel like an industrial spy. Wish I could could explain I'm just eavesdropping for pleasure. I'm not going to sell information to anyone.

It turns out they're discussing the inflation of camel prices at the height of the Roman Empire, and other ordinary chit chat likely to be engaged in by citizens of Oxyrhinchites, a conquered city in Egypt. Here's a helpful hint I overheard: "To keep bugs out of the house, mix goat bile with water and sprinkle."

I'm on it.

The life of an eavesdropper is rewarding. It offers ample entertainment at parties, limitless possibilities for stories, and as mentioned above, potentially valuable information.