You look like you draw...
So I am walking to work this morning and I got to this one intersection that is particularly dangerous. Cars are coming around a bend through the crosswalk and the average speed that has got to be in the 40's. I often wait there, on the curb, and imagine what it would feel like if one of those metal beasts were to make contact with me. I won't go into details about the results of my overworked imagination, but it's pretty grim. Now when I walk to work, and I get to this intersection, I have to look behind me to see the cars barreling around the turn. Today, as I am looking back, one of the cars passing me hits the breaks and screeches to a halt. I look at the driver, a little asian woman. Then I look at the reason she stopped. A black man, about my age, is standing on the opposite side of the street waiting to cross. (don't ask me why I am giving you the ethnicity of the people in this story, it has absolutely nothing to do with it.) I can't really see why the woman stopped. The man is all the way on the sidewalk and they are just staring at each other. After a second he begins to wave the car on with big arcing hand motions. He starts yelling things like "It's okay! Go ahead! Go on!" The lady slowly resumes her course through the intersection. As soon as the man across from me spoke, I knew he was different. There was something wrong. I've been around enough people in my life who were autistic, developmentally delayed, or mentally retarded to be confident in my evaluation of this persons condition. And I felt more sure as he continued to yell at the next cars to blast through the intersection. Looking at each one, making his big arm gestures and encouragingly telling them it was fine to pass, and "move on". He did this for seven or eight cars before there was a break in the flow and I saw him step into the street and start to cross. I took my eyes from him, looking back to see if I had an opportunity to cross. I saw cars coming towards me fast enough and close enough that I strategically decided to maintain my safe position on the sidewalk. Then I heard that mans voice again.
"Good morning sir! Good morning!"
I turned to look at him. He stood there a couple of feet from me. Still in the street, but out of reach of the cars flying by behind him. He smiled, a big grin, and he had sharp twinkling eyes.
"good morning" I said. And then I stumbled on his next comment.
"You look like you draw. Draw on paper. You look like you draw all day."
I quickly checked myself. No, I looked completely normal. No Fooly Cooly t-shirt. No sketch book tucked under my arm. No pencil behind my ear. Just jeans, vans, and the leather man bag that Kim gave me for Christmas. I replied...
"Yes, I do draw... all day."
To which he said:
"You look like you draw. I draw too, but at night."
With that, he walked passed me and continued on down the street. The crosswalk signal chirped that it was safe for me to enter the intersection. I stepped off the curb and made my way across, looking back more than once at the man who had pegged me as someone who draws all day...
Stay tuned, my next post is going to have a squirrel battle in it.
"Good morning sir! Good morning!"
I turned to look at him. He stood there a couple of feet from me. Still in the street, but out of reach of the cars flying by behind him. He smiled, a big grin, and he had sharp twinkling eyes.
"good morning" I said. And then I stumbled on his next comment.
"You look like you draw. Draw on paper. You look like you draw all day."
I quickly checked myself. No, I looked completely normal. No Fooly Cooly t-shirt. No sketch book tucked under my arm. No pencil behind my ear. Just jeans, vans, and the leather man bag that Kim gave me for Christmas. I replied...
"Yes, I do draw... all day."
To which he said:
"You look like you draw. I draw too, but at night."
With that, he walked passed me and continued on down the street. The crosswalk signal chirped that it was safe for me to enter the intersection. I stepped off the curb and made my way across, looking back more than once at the man who had pegged me as someone who draws all day...
Stay tuned, my next post is going to have a squirrel battle in it.