The art of juggling with a single coin
I stroll between the clouds, on a Saturday afternoon, in my dodgy suburb town, not far from Paris the octopus, sitting on one of its numerous tentacles.
I am now standing in the queue at the post office.
In sufficient funds at the time, I plan to send some help to the mother of my brother. In front of me in the line, a short determined young man I think I recognize -He sells coriander and parsil for yellow and brown coins, remote from the veggie market, around one of the metro exits -
His turn comes and, with a Bengali accent, he asks for a withdrawal.
The lady hands him a blue form. Patiently, with a ballpen, he fills it in. And hands it back.
The lady at the desk startles, frowns and now protests:
“Really?? You want to withdraw…two euros?”
Two euros is thirty rands my friend.
Without flinching the least bit, the determined hawker nods.
With a sigh, slowly shaking her head so as to signify that she does not have that time to waste over two-euro withdrawals, she types in the details on her computer. First name, family name, account number, sum to withdraw, reason for the withdrawal (well, that one has been left blank).
Finally, some kind of square heavy machine, sitting on the desk next to the computer screen, sets in motion. We can hear metallic sounds of knobs and clicks and cracks that soon result in a two euros coin falling down in a plastic cup.
The young Bengali guy picks up his coin. And turns back to leave. I myself turn around to look at him. Coming out of the post office, through the automatic doors, I can see him flipping the coin in the air, and catching it with one hand.
A pretty impressive trick.
What do you think? Could you juggle with a single coin? Could you do it? Do you know how hard it is?