March 22, 2005

I see this guy on the bus downtown this morning, late 20s, bandanna tied on his head, filthy jacket, sports sandals. He can hardly keep his eyes open. And he can't hold onto his stuff. An envelope falls out of his bag, then a fanny pack hits the floor, followed by a cell phone. He opens his eyes long enough to kick the phone back towards him and pick it up. He doesn't even bother to retrieve his fanny pack until he gets off the bus in Montlake. After he's gone, I scoop up the envelope:

Inmate Funds Booking Envelope. So this guy gets out of jail in the morning, gets his inmate funds (how much do you get for exiting a jail?), scores some junk (or whatever), and is nodding off on the bus within the hour. Sure, sounds loserish, but you can't fault him for a lack of focus. It's impressive that he could consolidate his errands so efficiently. And the whole kicking-the-cell-phone thing, with no wasted motion. Sort of Bruce Lee-like. Sort of.