Thank you! I just read it online and it is indeed the story I remembered. I'm surprised that I remembered so much of it. I didn't remember how obnoxious Oscar was or his partner's death, though. Make a good Twilight Zone, if any such thing were made these days, i am a fan of Ghost Huntrs, I must admit, but the proliferation of paranormal reality shows is ridiculous. It's  a shame there isn't more of a venue for the well-crafted subtle stories like this or fritz leiber's Smoke Ghost or Sanity and suchlike.


" When you see a difference in a person and can find only wickedness in it - you and them - the 'them' become fair game, not people anymore but obstacles to the greater good, and it's always open sweason on 'them'"
from Court Of The Air by Stephen Hunt


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From: James Stevens <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2012 6:03 AM
Subject: Re: [SF-LIT] Montag reading

I believe the story you describe in your final paragraph is "Or All the Seas with Oysters," by Avram Davidson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Or_All_the_Seas_with_Oysters

On Jun 6, 2012, at 2:30 PM, Deb Warner wrote:

> If reading is so discouraged, why can Montag pick up a book and read it, right off the bat? It's been a while since I've read the book - although this would be an appropriate time to do so again- an I don't remember whether this was explained.
>                Speaking of re-reading favorites, it's obvious to me that the towel guy I was remembering must have been Ford Prefect, as has been suggested. However, it was a pleasure refreshing my memory, especially because I discovered the origin of the story about the guy who had insisted he spent time acting as a chauffeur to a family of ball points.
>          I'm still trying to track down the story that explained why you would have an abundance of one common item, followed by a scarcity of that item and a superfluity of another. It was hypothesized that there was an (alien?) life form that looked like a paperclip (or safety pin) in its larval form, a hanger in its juvenile form and a bicycle in its adult form, or something like that.  I seem to remember it ending with someone falling over bicycles in the hallway of his apartment or rooming house. Admittedly, my memory isn't the best, but I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it  completely. Maybe it was Fritz Leiber but if it is I haven't found it yet.
> 
> " When you see a difference in a person and can find only wickedness in it - you and them - the 'them' become fair game, not people anymore but obstacles to the greater good, and it's always open sweason on 'them'"
> from Court Of The Air by Stephen Hunt