On & Off

The elevator door opened, and he mechanically went to where he always parked his car and began to wax it. After a while, when he was almost done, he realized that he had waxed another car, a Toyota very similar to his. ’Damn, I am such an idiot!’ he said to himself. When he was about to finish waxing the car, he saw his new neighbor enter the basement and said, surprised and with disapproval: ’Hey, what is wrong with you? I did not ask you to wax my car. When did I ask you?’ Raul felt like a real idiot for a couple of seconds, and even though he knew that his brain was not fully working, he told her with his best smile: ’There are those who ask for a cup of sugar to meet their neighbor, and there are those who wax their car. You are my neighbor, right? Can I borrow a cup of sugar?’