It’s a deal

At one time I was helping Forall clean his cabin. As his assistant I was inquiring into his upcoming schedule and what needed to be done. He said that whenever he gets the time, he is going to pull the big topper off of his truck bed and re-install it. He had installed this a few years back so that he had a place to sleep when he was traveling across the country. In general, Forall spends eight months of the year teaching at our community in Vermont, and the rest of the time networking, fundraising, and training in various places.

When Forall was in his early teens, he was walking through a snowy field near the back of his family’s house when for some unknown reason he put out his arms and fell backwards into the snow. He just laid there looking at the sky. When he sat up, he suddenly realized that he was all beings and this great Earth. It wasn’t philosophical, it was completely tangible. Soon after this experience, he developed severe allergies to various foods, synthetic fragrances and dust, which he still has to this day. If exposed, his mental state changes dramatically and it becomes extremely challenging for him to function. So the truck bed made his journey easier to avoid potential exposures.

Forall asked me, “Did you know that I found it on the side of the road?” I replied “No” and he said, “Yeah, on purpose.” He then told me the story of getting the truck bed.

“Don’t misunderstand,” he said. “I went looking for it, not knowing it would be there. One day I said to myself, I have a few hours, so I’ll go find a cap for my truck. And sure enough I found it. I got on my bike, began riding around, and a few hours later, saw it on a lawn. I went up to the man who lived there and said, ‘I see this on your lawn, doesn’t look like you need it, can I buy it from you?’

“The man said, ‘Okay sure, I’ll sell it to you for $50.’ And I said, ‘I’ve been doing research into how much these are worth and I would like to negotiate that price to $200.’ He said, ‘That sounds very reasonable, but how about $100?’ I said, ‘Would you consider $150?’ He then said, ‘OK, but in that case, I’ll throw it on my trailer and bring it back to your place.’ I said, ‘It’s a deal.’”

That Forall would negotiate UP a price is what inspired me to share this story, but interestingly enough, when first writing this tale, I failed to notice a Freudian slip where I switched the $50 and $200 — creating a story where Forall was bargaining for a cheaper deal. This probably shows how my subconscious can’t make sense of how someone could offer such a counterintuitive response.