Book Three Unit Thirty-one

True eccentrics do not have to devise ways to draw attention to themselves. As they
don't take social conventions into account, they are not sure that they are doing
anything extraordinary. Consequently, other people admire them for they add colour
to the dull routine of everyday life. The following case concerns Richard Colson whose eccentricity had become legendary long before he died. Being a shrewd and wealthy
businessman, Richard Colson was known to us in our town as Dickie. Dickie did not
hide his great disgust for snobs. Though he owned a large car, he seldom used it,
preferring always to go on foot. Even when it was raining heavily, he insisted on taking a walk without carrying an umbrella. One day, a particularly heavy shower got him into such a mess that the assistant of an expensive shop refused to serve him when he
wanted to buy a ￡300 watch for his wife. Dickie decided to punish the assistant and
returned to the shop with a large cloth bag full of 30,000 pennies. Dickie requested to
see the manager and equally requested the assistant to count the 30,000 pennies. So
the assistant was severely reprimanded by the manager and did as Dickie had asked. On another occasion, Dickie played an elaborate joke on a number of important critics
to find out whether they managed to notice modern paintings painted by himself.