Wednesday, June 10, 2009

roll with it

i encountered three people that really made my night yesterday. First, was the bus driver who took me to work. i saw the bus coming and started running for it, and when i got on, he gave me the funniest smile and a wink as if to say: "don't worry... i'm on your side." the whole way he kept announcing major stops like it was a first class train coach... really getting into it. then, i got off the back door of the bus, and passed him as i walked, and and he grinned and opened the door for me again as a joke. it actually made me laugh.

the second person i saw while on the bus. we were stopped for a while to "regulate the service", and from the upper deck i could see below a girl, probably a bit younger than me, dressed indie but modest, with short black hair. she was hugging her bag and nervously looking in all directions, and smoking a cigarette like it was oxygen. every now and then she crossed herself a few times and said hail marys or whatever it is that catholics do, and then went back to nervously eyeing the people around her. she looked so sad, but i couldn't take my eyes off her. i thought about how she would look good on film, but then it would just look like a cheesy art student's attempt at being avant garde. or else, it could be a blockbuster movie, and if i'd be the boy that would run down and kiss her and make all her dreams come true.


the third person came into my bar, long after the happy hour punters had scattered... he was probably in his forties, real rough-and-tumble looking kind of guy, with a noel-gallagher-circa-early-nineties haircut and a bright patterned shirt. he was very cheerful and in a thick geordie accent asked me if i was irish. he was visiting london from newcastle, and was very pleased to hear that i liked london. he liked it too, even though many people don't-- "but of course," he said smiling, "it's what you make of it."

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