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Man in a Box

You can think of it as a retirement home, if you wish.  No stairs.  No snow to shovel. No lawn.  Someone to clean the windows for you.  


Nearly a perfect retirement home!  


At the Mall of America, some company--probably an insurance company trying to minimize its responsibility for you--or perhaps a friendly bank trying to find a place for you to live now that you have reverse-mortgaged yourself out of your own house, has built a glass box to show just how lucky you can be.  


They found a guy who is just a tad overweight--maybe fifty pounds--who needs just a little nudge to live the healthier life with our support and curiosity:  "Does he really sleep in that bed by the window?  Is there a bathroom?  Can he order-in pizza, the way it appears he usually does?"  


He does get out of the box once in a while.  This morning there was a sign saying he was following the signs for the "Mayo Clinic Mile":  a couple of times around, inside the Mall.  They don't want this guy to see sunlight!  I will bet that, at night, when only the maintenance and construction and security crews are about, he sneaks down to Victoria's Secret!


"Living a healthier life"?  He is certain to go mad!  Or maybe it is just an experiment to learn which of us will be able to cope with The Pre-Assisted Living Stage, when the time comes:  a condo with three windowless walls, but a really nice hobby room.  


If you look carefully, you can see the researcher at the observation post; probably a survivor of last month's experiment.  

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