Many people carried a very ill opinion
of the owners of the Cornerstreet Cafe. They thought they were
manipulative imprisoners of their clientèle. People who attended
their establishment often felt trapped, like they were being held in
the restaurant against their will. They would complain about being
barred from the exits by iron fences or bathroom signs on a blank
wall.
The owner and former magician Mister
Santos Lizanne did this deliberately, but not the way people imagine.
People said he put signs up where there was nothing, or made certain
parts of his cafe impossible to reach. This was utterly false.
However, through clever use of paint and lighting and forced
perspective, he made the way appear blocked. He felt too many people
in the world lacked faith in humanity and trust in each other. They
had grown cold and distant and clung to the words taught at
childhood, “stranger danger.” So he used optical illusions to
show them that they could trust people. That if the sign said there
was a way out, you could believe that there was a way out, even if
you could not see it.
Mister Lizanne was a man of his word,
but you just had to trust him on it.
- Originally mailed to D. Murphey from Ocean Springs, MS
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