"i was smoking crack like 90 goes north"
Well, it was an interesting ride on the el this morning. I must say, the blue line is a little bit different than life on the brown line.
It's 8:35a, I board a blue line train towards Forest Park and immediately know something is wrong. I've clearly chosen the wrong car. Between the noise of the el and the man's slurring, at first all I can make out is something about "the united states used to be the greatest nation in the universe!". Looking around, I noticed people were having the standard range of responses:
-Pretend you can't hear the man, even though he's shouting, because you have your iPod on
-Concentrate intently on your book/magazine/Soduko puzzle
-Intently examine a spot on the floor or in the corner
Now, lacking an iPod, book, magazine AND soduko puzzle, I was forced to stare off into space. This did allow me the opportunity to listen to what the crazy dude was saying. Topics he covered:
-Politics: He argued that black people should love Republicans. "Republicans gave black people everything!" he said, and that "Black people love free stuff." "Republicans freed us from slavery!"
-Education/gangs: "I was high as fuck on crack, and these little kids came up to me and asked me for some. I was like, 'Why aren't you in school?' And they said they had nothing to live for, that they had to join a gang! Black kids are victimized, sodomized, have to wear the same clothes all the time, and are forced to join gangs!"
-Technology: He informed the train car that computers one bit of information per nanosecond, and something about how the human brain can thus absorb so much information per second? Wasn't following this one too closely.
-The English Language: He knows all 23 helping verbs. And he recited them to us. (in case you were wondering: have, has, had, do, does, did, be, am, is, are, was, were, been, can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, being)
-Race Relations: "There's no way more you can show your love than by helping someone of another color. Now does anyone want to help me? Does anyone want to show me that love?"
Hmm, there were other topics too, but I just can't remember everything he covered. Quotations have been translated from incoherent to whatever it is I could formulate.
It's 8:35a, I board a blue line train towards Forest Park and immediately know something is wrong. I've clearly chosen the wrong car. Between the noise of the el and the man's slurring, at first all I can make out is something about "the united states used to be the greatest nation in the universe!". Looking around, I noticed people were having the standard range of responses:
-Pretend you can't hear the man, even though he's shouting, because you have your iPod on
-Concentrate intently on your book/magazine/Soduko puzzle
-Intently examine a spot on the floor or in the corner
Now, lacking an iPod, book, magazine AND soduko puzzle, I was forced to stare off into space. This did allow me the opportunity to listen to what the crazy dude was saying. Topics he covered:
-Politics: He argued that black people should love Republicans. "Republicans gave black people everything!" he said, and that "Black people love free stuff." "Republicans freed us from slavery!"
-Education/gangs: "I was high as fuck on crack, and these little kids came up to me and asked me for some. I was like, 'Why aren't you in school?' And they said they had nothing to live for, that they had to join a gang! Black kids are victimized, sodomized, have to wear the same clothes all the time, and are forced to join gangs!"
-Technology: He informed the train car that computers one bit of information per nanosecond, and something about how the human brain can thus absorb so much information per second? Wasn't following this one too closely.
-The English Language: He knows all 23 helping verbs. And he recited them to us. (in case you were wondering: have, has, had, do, does, did, be, am, is, are, was, were, been, can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, being)
-Race Relations: "There's no way more you can show your love than by helping someone of another color. Now does anyone want to help me? Does anyone want to show me that love?"
Hmm, there were other topics too, but I just can't remember everything he covered. Quotations have been translated from incoherent to whatever it is I could formulate.