The Alchemist's Tea...

  I watched as he melted the ice in the microwave. My perplexed face prompted him to provide some explanation for this oddity. As he filled another small container with ice from his cooler to be melted, his proud voice explained.
  "The water I get from the tap aint no good at home. I cant afford no bottled water neither. So I take whats left in my cooler, and melt it 'fore I split. That way I can pour it into my jugs to take home."
  He could have stopped right there. If he had I might have dismissed him as being a bit ridiculous & cheap. Instead, he went on with his explanation.
  "When I do get home, I'll freeze the water from my jugs so I can have ice.  I can melt the ice again if I want some ice-water or ice-tea. I like my drinks to be ice-cold. I drink a lot of water and tea too. I probably go through a few gallons every day."
  It seemed as if the thinking parts of him had been melted down along with all the ice he'd melted over his 40-some-odd years of working here. Now the thirst for validation flowed from his proud/vacant expression. I couldn't do anything in response to his approval-seeking stare, but offer some pre-forgotten/lukewarm reply.
  The Alchemist continued to turn ice into water, water into ice, &c. He couldn't seem to apply this mastery of conversion to anything else. He couldn't thaw himself from his frozen state, or freeze the ever flowing tears that he didn't know well enough to cry. All he could do was perpetuate the conversions of freezing and flow, as he guzzled it all down in the Alchemist's Tea.