Gladys

"Gladys pauses in her window shopping to remember who she is."

I used to go to Atlantic City and stay at an inexpensive hotel. If you haven't gone I highly recommend it. I have never encountered a place which more vividly displays the absurdity of human existence. On one side the Vast Ocean; on the other, a boardwalk decked out with all manner of cheap tourist shops, and, of course, the humming, jingling casinos and their hypnotized patrons.

During mornings I'd sit outside and watch people drift up and down the boardwalk. I often saw women who looked a lot like this...standing in front of windows and staring on with expressions that seemed both absent and reflective.