Flash Mob

The season has just passed where one might come in contact with one of those beautiful moments where a local chorus would seemingly spontaneously happen to meet in a mall and sing Christmas Carols a cappella, much to the amazement and awe of passers by.  These moments were referred to by the media as a Flash Mob.

There has also been a recent display of peaceful and heartfelt grassroots  public protests that one could  describe as being somewhat unplanned and unstructured but no less meaningful.  These have also been attributed the Flash Mob adjective.

Today I witnessed a somewhat smaller display in public that the descriptive 'Flash'  if not in actuality a 'Mob' could be given.

 It happened whilst visiting our favourite book store.  My husband and I had been perusing the 50% off  calendars, and I had just found a series of novels that were actually about my place of birth and hometown.  While I was busily analyzing the information about the author and plot on the book jacket I suddenly heard my husband's voice echo throughout the bookstore. 

 I swung around in surprise and saw that he was standing across the store where several discount books were displayed. He was waving one in his hand while he was talking to me.  As I immediately (of course) focused my full attention to his utterances, I sensed rather than actually saw the other customers in the store stop and turn towards him as well.

He was wielding  a book in his hand stating its title and author, when it was written, and then proclaiming it to be considered the absolute authority of war tactics of all time.  He then announced that that book was written over 2000 years ago and  that  it is still used today as a reference for military strategy by every military power in the world. He said that if one reads any reputable book on the History of War that this particular book would be part of the bibliography.  He went on further to say that because of his reading of this book he was able to detect two errors in a recent edition he had purchased from the Folio Society on the History of Civilization.

When he had stopped speaking, I asked if he had a copy of it at home.
The reply was, "Of course. I've read it three times." 

I returned to reading the  jacket of the novel I had in hand; my husband replaced the book he had been holding; other customers started walking around the store again.  The normal ebb and flow of books and commerce recommenced,  infused with perhaps just a bit more insight and thoughtfulness than before the
Flash Mob Book Report.

It has been said that to have a conversation with my husband is like talking to someone who has five people in their head who are all playing Trivia Pursuit.