Chapter 5 Summary

The story returns to Howie on the escalator; he comments that he loves escalators in part because he loved them as a child. He very much liked "systems of local transport" generally speaking, and he then gives some examples at length. The pleasure of the escalator, then, consistes of various different perceptions loosely strung together over time in Howie's mind. He then recounts one with his mother and sister, and claims that 70 to 80% of his escalator memories come from when he was a child.

However, lately Howie is losing his love for the escalator, due to an experience several weeks before while driving behind a garbage truck. He finds the paint covering old patches of rust in the back of the truck beautiful and recalls that as a child he loved anything filthy. Yet at thirty, the garbage in front of him reminds...