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asakiyumeThe first woman
At an intersection in my father's town, there was a woman with multiple signs. She cycled through them, holding them up. One said something along the lines of don't-throw-away-the-constitition, another said something like no-grift-jets. There was another relating somehow to 9-11. Her clothing made me think of a bee or a hornet: she had on a black T-shirt, a yellow jacket tied around her waist, a yellow baseball cap, tawny shouder-length hair, pale-ish freckled skin.
"You have a lot of signs there," I said.
"Oh, these are nothing. I have like twenty at home."
"Do you come here every weekend?"
"Every Tuesday. And sometimes on the weekends. And yes, I have a job! Sometimes people shout that at me, 'Get a job.' I'm a physical therapist. And a swimmer. After I finish here, I'm going to swim a mile."
"Wow," I said. "I couldn't swim a mile" (vast understatement).
"Yep. I'm going to be in a competition in a few weeks. A two-mile swim. I've got stamina and endurance. I'm perfect for this." She indicated herself, the signs.
The second woman
The second one was more like a flower. She had a magenta T-shirt and bright violet-purple hair cropped close to her head, and dark brown skin. She was with a boy with undyed hair. I saw them walking up one side of a street when I was walking down the other side, and then I saw them again when we were both going the opposite way, and a third time when I was in my car and they were waiting for a bus.
If we'd been walking on the same side of the street, and if it seemed like she wouldn't mind a random remark from a stranger, and if I had a surfeit of temerity, I would have told her how much I loved her hair. But we weren't. So I just enjoyed her hair and T-shirt silently.
At an intersection in my father's town, there was a woman with multiple signs. She cycled through them, holding them up. One said something along the lines of don't-throw-away-the-constitition, another said something like no-grift-jets. There was another relating somehow to 9-11. Her clothing made me think of a bee or a hornet: she had on a black T-shirt, a yellow jacket tied around her waist, a yellow baseball cap, tawny shouder-length hair, pale-ish freckled skin.
"You have a lot of signs there," I said.
"Oh, these are nothing. I have like twenty at home."
"Do you come here every weekend?"
"Every Tuesday. And sometimes on the weekends. And yes, I have a job! Sometimes people shout that at me, 'Get a job.' I'm a physical therapist. And a swimmer. After I finish here, I'm going to swim a mile."
"Wow," I said. "I couldn't swim a mile" (vast understatement).
"Yep. I'm going to be in a competition in a few weeks. A two-mile swim. I've got stamina and endurance. I'm perfect for this." She indicated herself, the signs.
The second woman
The second one was more like a flower. She had a magenta T-shirt and bright violet-purple hair cropped close to her head, and dark brown skin. She was with a boy with undyed hair. I saw them walking up one side of a street when I was walking down the other side, and then I saw them again when we were both going the opposite way, and a third time when I was in my car and they were waiting for a bus.
If we'd been walking on the same side of the street, and if it seemed like she wouldn't mind a random remark from a stranger, and if I had a surfeit of temerity, I would have told her how much I loved her hair. But we weren't. So I just enjoyed her hair and T-shirt silently.
