“Not Mallory,” What’s the Story?

I’m a sucker for graffiti and unanswered question. I also like to watch people and try to make up stories about them to pass the time in airports and shopping malls.

Bro Mark and I used to play a game. We’d sit somewhere to gauge the interaction between two people at a nearby table. We’d watch their body language and try to determine if they were a new couple, a couple on a first date, if they were just friends, if they were headed for a breakup (or in the middle of the one at that moment). Once, to the dismay of someone who was with Mark, we flipped a coin to see who would walk over to the table to see whose theory was correct. His date won (or lost) the flip, but refused to go, so I was elected.

Of course, I reported back that my theory was correct: they were on a first date. That’s why she was laughing at his jokes they were both learning forward toward each other and they were gazing deeply into the other person’s eyes.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. They had been going together for some time. They were just disgustingly infatuated with each other.

Who is “Not Mallory?”

So, what’s the story behind the chalked message “Not Mallory, Will you give me a second chance?” [Click to make larger.]

Did someone scream out the name “Mallory!” at an inopportune time with they weren’t WITH Mallory? Is that why “Not Mallory” is being addressed?  Did “Not Mallory” give the person a second chance?

Speculation welcome.

In case you didn’t recognize the location, that’s the floodwall on the right and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in the background.

13 Replies to ““Not Mallory,” What’s the Story?”

  1. 2 guesses on Not Mallory:

    1. Someone wrote the question and then decided they didn’t wanted another chance and cancelled their request with “NOT” (like saying never mind with great sarcasm)

    2. Someone made the request of Mallory and when Mallory seen it she left her message of “NOT” (meaning no way)

    I opt for my first thought. The chalk is the same color and it appears to be the same handwriting.

  2. @ Gila: my first thought was your option 2 but upon reading option 1, I like it more. How about option 3: What if he wrote the entire thing as a cruel statement? Meaning, he knew she wanted to get back together but he had no intentions of doing so?

  3. Okay, I’ll play. I love mysteries like this.
    Mallory and Frank are standing at the wall, arguing. Frank whips out a piece of chalk and writes, “Will you give me another chance?” Mallory yanks the piece of chalk out of his hand and writes “NOT”! She then throws the chalk into the river and storms off.
    My friend and I sometimes go to the mall, just to sit on a bench and watch. It’s a part of retirement that I enjoy very much.

  4. The author was making a declarative statement, not asking a question. Let’s call the author, Bill. Bill was seen someplace in Cape in the company of someone who look an awful lot like Mallory and nothing like his regular arm-hanger. Once he was confronted he had to declare to her that it was NOT Mallory he was with that day, it was ah in fact, his cousin from Atlanta. Just a simple case of mistaken identity that got blown out of proportion. In order to regain her affection again and convince his regular girl that she “was the one” he went around town and wrote in multiple places…”NOT Mallory, will you give me another chance?

    Look around town for more of these statements of love, I’m sure you will begin to see them if you look hard enough.

  5. I was envisioning Mark’s scenario, except for the writing in multiple places. Seems a strange place to make sure she would see it.

    1. Maybe that was a place they went to watch the submarine races that used to be popular on the Mississippi River.

      They used to be held near Cape Rock, but maybe times have changed.

      Too bad I’m leaving town. I won’t have time to check Mark’s theory of multiple postings.

  6. The author, Jack, is saying that he does NOT love Mallory, and he is making that statement to some unnammed former lover. Let’s call her Jill. Jack fell down as he and Jill were trudging upwards on the path toward a lifetime commitment. Mallory was waiting at the bottom and Jack tarried awhile down there with her, before coming to his senses and deciding to scramble back up the hill to try and reconnect with Jill.

    So, Jill, whaddaya say? Is Jack going to get another chance?

  7. Ken, are you sure you didn’t write it, photograph it, and then post, just to see what transpires. It would be an interesting study in human reaction.

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