Friday, June 05, 2009
TMBMIEM
When I arrived back at Casa de Rix earlier, The Most Bored Man I Ever Met was standing outside at the top of the front stoop, barely dry beneath an overhang. Dreary, rainy evening, nothing to look at. TMBMIEM is almost 70, I hear; short, Hispanic but speaks English well. He moved here a few years ago from some bad part of the city, in or around some projects, & once expressed to me a wish he was back there. Not much happens on this corner, & it's gotten very quiet since the drug crew was chased away by the cops two summers ago. I don't know what keeps him from moving back to the 'hood, I'm sure there's someone willing to trade for an apartment in a neighborhood where law-abiding citizens can walk their dogs after dark.
Sometimes in the middle of the winter on freezing days, TMBMIEM stands just inside the foyer door, wearing a jacket, staring out the front windows. Someone else in the building explained him to me.
"Do you ever read those news stories about an innocent person shot in crossfire between two gangbangers?"
"Yeah, I do."
"& then you notice it happened at 3 am in a neighborhood you wouldn't go to in broad daylight?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's him. When you & I hear an argument or a fight or police sirens, we peek out the window. He runs outside. It's like reality television. It's his entertainment. There's lots of people like him. "
"What would he do if he heard gunshots?"
"Go outside & look."
"Why doesn't he move to a more lively area?"
"Wherever he was before, it was probably awful & the city tried to get him into senior housing & he refused to go."
"But those are nice buildings. Clean. Secure. Free buses to the mall."
"Doesn't matter. Nothing he wants to see at the mall."
This isn't quite TMBBPIEW.
The Most Boring Blog Post I Ever Wrote
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Sometimes in the middle of the winter on freezing days, TMBMIEM stands just inside the foyer door, wearing a jacket, staring out the front windows. Someone else in the building explained him to me.
"Do you ever read those news stories about an innocent person shot in crossfire between two gangbangers?"
"Yeah, I do."
"& then you notice it happened at 3 am in a neighborhood you wouldn't go to in broad daylight?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's him. When you & I hear an argument or a fight or police sirens, we peek out the window. He runs outside. It's like reality television. It's his entertainment. There's lots of people like him. "
"What would he do if he heard gunshots?"
"Go outside & look."
"Why doesn't he move to a more lively area?"
"Wherever he was before, it was probably awful & the city tried to get him into senior housing & he refused to go."
"But those are nice buildings. Clean. Secure. Free buses to the mall."
"Doesn't matter. Nothing he wants to see at the mall."
This isn't quite TMBBPIEW.
The Most Boring Blog Post I Ever Wrote
Labels: Elizabeth NJ
