Suddenly A knock at the door

Although it is one of the shortest stories in the collection, What Do We Have In Our Pockets was the story that really stuck out the most to me. In the two pages of the story Etgar Keret provides a vivid look into the sad life and hopes of a man looking for love. The man in the story, whose name we never learn, caries around with him everywhere he goes, an odd assortment consisting of a lighter, a cigarette, a cough drop, a postage stamp, a pen, and two five shekel coins. People are always asking him “What the fuck do you have in your pockets?” to which he never answers but simply smiles and laughs. Where they to be persistent and ask him again, he would explain why he needs all of the things he carries with him all the time, but they never do. Keret includes this detail to show that nobody cares about the man, and they aren’t even curious enough to find out what is in his pockets and why he carries it all. In the next paragraph of the very short story he explains why he carries all these items on him all the time. He says its so that he is always prepared. He carries them so that he’s never at a disadvantage at the moment of truth. He carries all of these things with him every day and everywhere he goes just so that he will be ready if a pretty girl needs something, no matter how trivial it may be. He’s so desperate for love and female interaction that he believes that someday having a stamp for a girl that needs to mail a letter or a pen for a lady who needs to sign her name will be the way that he will find his sole mate. He fantasizes about how it will happen. He describes a scenario where he gets to play prince charming just for having a stamp and a cough drop in his pockets. When she asks, “what else do you have in your pockets?” he will have the opportunity to reply, “Everything you’ll ever need my love.” This sad tale of a lonely sole forever waiting for his chance to come along is just one of the many subtly dark stories that Keret spins in