People Watching: Santa Cruz
1) As I walked along Pacific Avenue, I passed a man in a wheelchair, who was heading in the other direction, but backwards, propelling himself by kicking out with his feet, moving at quite the clip. In his left hand, he held a folding mirror, like a side mirror on a car.
I was struck by this. How adroit! He's facing backward, therefore able to see cars that are approaching him in his lane--for he was in the street, not on the sidewalk--which would also make it easier to move himself along, but he has the mirror so as not to smack into any parked cars or bikes behind him.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
2) As I passed SubRosa, the anarchist cafe in Santa Cruz--of course Santa Cruz has an anarchist cafe, although I haven't gone in to see if they have set prices for their menu--some guy sitting on the sidewalk said in a tone dripping with snarkiness, "Nice jacket, man."
I'm assuming he meant me. I was wearing the old vintage leather jacket I bought in Missoula years ago for $30 from my friend's mom's vintage shop. It is a little battered, but it has held up well.
Was he objecting to leather on principle? If so, I would point out that at least I bought it used, so no extra cows were harmed to equip me with a jacket.
Of course, if he was really trying to be nasty, this effort left something to be desired. It lacked sting and zip. It would be like pointing out to the Queen of England that she has a lot of Corgis.
Maybe he was just crazy and disordered in his thinking.
3) I stepped outside the front door this evening, tumbler of brandy in hand, and a passing gentleman and I exchanged friendly nods that morphed into greetings that morphed into ironic complaints about how rugged this winter has become.
I don't think that would have happened in San Francisco.
4) I stumbled upon an interesting independent shoe store today. The clerk rolled around the store on roller skates, The Empire Strikes Back was on the TV but on mute, and there were various vintage road signs on the walls, along with a classic arcade game table console.
Although I'm not sure why an image of Boba Fett appeared to be selling Adidas.
I was struck by this. How adroit! He's facing backward, therefore able to see cars that are approaching him in his lane--for he was in the street, not on the sidewalk--which would also make it easier to move himself along, but he has the mirror so as not to smack into any parked cars or bikes behind him.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
2) As I passed SubRosa, the anarchist cafe in Santa Cruz--of course Santa Cruz has an anarchist cafe, although I haven't gone in to see if they have set prices for their menu--some guy sitting on the sidewalk said in a tone dripping with snarkiness, "Nice jacket, man."
I'm assuming he meant me. I was wearing the old vintage leather jacket I bought in Missoula years ago for $30 from my friend's mom's vintage shop. It is a little battered, but it has held up well.
Was he objecting to leather on principle? If so, I would point out that at least I bought it used, so no extra cows were harmed to equip me with a jacket.
Of course, if he was really trying to be nasty, this effort left something to be desired. It lacked sting and zip. It would be like pointing out to the Queen of England that she has a lot of Corgis.
Maybe he was just crazy and disordered in his thinking.
3) I stepped outside the front door this evening, tumbler of brandy in hand, and a passing gentleman and I exchanged friendly nods that morphed into greetings that morphed into ironic complaints about how rugged this winter has become.
I don't think that would have happened in San Francisco.
4) I stumbled upon an interesting independent shoe store today. The clerk rolled around the store on roller skates, The Empire Strikes Back was on the TV but on mute, and there were various vintage road signs on the walls, along with a classic arcade game table console.
Although I'm not sure why an image of Boba Fett appeared to be selling Adidas.
Labels: people are interesting
posted by Devin at 5:54 PM
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