Light Bulb Man

I talked with a man the other day. I went to see a friend and he wasn't in. This man poked his head out into the hallway. I met him once before and thought he was pretty interesting. People have said interesting things about him. We shared some conversation and i inquired about a lamp he had lit up inside his home - this four pronged set up with four different bulbs. He invited me in. He told me how he really liked light bulbs and collected them. When i scanned his home he had many, many boxes of florescent light bulbs - the long tubed kind. They were all stacked up to the ceiling. He showed me something really interesting when i inquired about how he fixed up all these light bulbs. He stated he doesn't really fix them - but rather - manages to make certain ones work again.

"You see - there's a filament inside some of these older ones. If it breaks off in just the right spot you can get it to work. Here, I'll show you".

He picked up some large, old bulb. If i remember correctly he said it was from the 40's - he explained he had lightbulbs that dated further back even - i wanted to see them - but i didnt get a chance to. Nevertheless, he showed me the broken filament that swayed around in its glass case then took a hard bend over and picked up some cord with a light socket in it and screwed it in. He prompted me to watch and shook the bulb around a bit until it caught and snapped alive with light.

It was really interesting - the look of it through its clear glass - the sound it made when it was resuscitated. He showed me a blue florescent tube light that he explained wasn't really made anymore. "You don't see blue like this very often". It was really nice. His house had light bulbs everywhere, turned on. We talked for a good 20 minutes about various things. It was really nice. Very random.

I returned home and my roommate explained to me that he was partially blind and has had the tumor that was on neck removed once before - but it grew back. I guess those bulbs were really the only thing that could grab much of his attention. He just loved that light. He could see it and it gave him comfort more or less. I didn't get a chance to ask him why he liked them so much - i will ask him next time - I'd like to hear his answer from himself. My roommate said she read an article a while ago about him and his love for light bulbs - i should try and find that.

He was a nice man with a home full of light.