that day at the entrance to Rube Goldberg’s general store

I happened upon a stranger coming out of the storefront 

which sells architectural drawings of otherworldly mechanical devices.

he held a rolled rendering of a nonsensical contraption which supersedes

a common endeavor in his arms, much the way young ladies walking home

from stitching cloth at the textile mills would hold the Italian breads, fresh

from Marzilli’s Bakery located across the street from the 3rd base line, which is

by bending the right forearm in a hard left maneuver, while tucking

the warm, fragrant pane from the hand’s palm, then nestling the always

individually bagged breads into the bend at the elbow, which in a real sense

was a practical application of warm pane in assisted motion from one place to another.

meanwhile, the stranger stopped to ask me if I had a match to light the cigarette

dangling from his mouth.

I told him I didn’t smoke, and with a grunt, he went on his way.

so did I, as a matter of fact.

later, I remembered thinking: if taking all the elements of this human event,

and translating each element of the situation in mechanical form, maybe 

Mr. Goldberg would have an interest in blueprinting the mechanics of such a machine.

a few days later while visiting the store, and presenting Mr. Goldberg with my idea,

he said it was well beyond his ability because it was already "far too complicated".