overheard on streetcar
Posted on May 21, 2008
“Foolishness is coming and paid for,” said the crazy little black lady on the streetcar.
I’d watched her get on at NW 23rd and Marshall after she’d tossed the remainder of a lit cigarette on the ground in front of a woman who didn’t look happy to have a lit cigarette tossed onto the ground in front of her. After thirty seconds on the train, her unmedicated delusions were the stuff of a rich, unbroken monologue. And after four stops, she was still going strong about the galaxy, dimensions, and knowing things that suckers don’t know about.
A young woman who was standing among five men on the other side of the streetcar cabin cheerfully offered, “It’s like a public service announcement.”
The crazy little black lady never even looked up as she said, “It’s NOT a public service announcement. How can I explain anything to five pimps and a prostitute?” And then she went back to the free-jazz recitation from which her attention had been momentarily shaken. She’d just called the cheery little white girl a whore, and I couldn’t have been more pleased.
When I got off the streetcar, a fat forty-something in a stained shirt walked past with a large rag doll clutched in his left arm. I regret not having been ready to capture his dramatic presence on digital film.
It’s been sunny and nice here the last few days. Today, I think, the crazies from the crazy place had outbroken.
» Filed Under Places, america, dislocated vignettes, life, people, portland
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