Seventh Continent

In the Krylatskoe branch of Седьмой Континент - the Seventh Continent - a supermarket in Moskva, there stood three автоматы. These machines were similar to Metrocard vending machines. You used them to "put money" on your cell phone, that is, to add money to your account balance. Many people were on this system; fixed monthly plans were rare.

One day all three machines were available. I chose the one in the middle. A lady - another customer - came up to me and asked whether the other two machines were broken. "I don't know," I said. "So why are you using this one instead of the others," she demanded.

I turned this over in my mind, winding my way through the courtyards of the tall blue-faced apartment buildings that composed Krylatskoe. When I first moved to that neighborhood, they all looked the same to me, but in some weeks time, I was able to distinguish mine. Letting myself into the lobby that day, I thought, "Why this one, instead of the others?"