Overseen and Overheard, or, Six Days in Boston

[mr_fancher]

"You have the day off or something?"

"No, I just moved here. I'm just walking around…"

"Oh. Where you from?"

"Memphis."

"Memphis. You play Blues?"

"Actually, I do."

--Pizzeria guy of indeterminate European ethnicity and myself, making small talk as my order gets filled.

"Why don't you get a fucking room?!"

--Morbidly obese woman in the company of two men

Comments

[rengetsu]

I have a strange paranoia about drive-bys. Even when I lived in this super quiet suburb in Chattanooga, I would still kind of feel edgy when cars drove by. It's even worse now, because I live kind of in the ghetto, but also across the street from a magnet elementary school and next door to a church of christ, so there are several horrible scenarios that could take place while I'm standing on my porch.

Also I'm terrified of car accidents. More specifically, of being involved in one. I'll be sitting in my car and suddenly think "If I had a head on collision and my leg was right there, I would probably have to have it amputated." Or, "If that car turns and slides just a little bit he would catch the front side of my car... unless I panicked and tried to get out of the way, in which case it would probably slide into me."

Also, someone spraypainted "mmm buttsex" on the side of our trash can.

[mr_fancher]

When I lived in Murfreesboro it was more along the lines of dying in my apartment and going unnoticed until someone complained about the smell or my rent was overdue. These days, I also anticipate my kitchen's old gas oven exploding when I try to cook something.

[rengetsu]

Wasn't that part of the Francis Wise story?

which, by the way, I'm still waiting for the ending of. *ahem*

I think older homes are scarier. Our house is like 60+ years old, which can either mean that it is a charming little cottage with interesting features from another time period, or a dilapidated structure with faulty wiring and mold issues. You can guess which one I'm living in...

it's kind of nice to always be quietly living on the edge.

[mr_fancher]

I couldn't remember if that was part of the Francis Wise story. I had to look it up. The girl is dead in her apartment, but it's the water from her shower leaking outside, not her smell, that alerts people.

The place I'm living in is nice enough, just small. Two of my housemates have only been in the US for a year or so, and I get the feeling they've never quite learned how to live on their own. Then again, I may be overly domestic for a 24-year-old straight single man.

[onerois]

I kind of had the same feeling/anticipation of getting mugged when I would take my nightly walks in Murfreesboro.

Really enjoying your writing.

[mr_fancher]

Much obliged. More shit to come!