blog what you see: across the street

Here I am!

So, the coffee shop where I spend most of my breaks is just across the street from this old apartment building, not too bad-looking but not exactly the Hilton either, and sometimes I look up from my tea ($1.50, cheapest thing on the menu and gives me permission to sit and enjoy the wifi + air conditioning for two hours) and see things I'm not really prepared for, in this tiny, touristy, occasionally really kitsch town.

Like a man in the street throwing a wad of bills in a woman's face, then turning and walking away as she screams after him.
Like a man my grandfather's age, sitting idly on the curb, clearly stoned out of his mind and staring at me with empty eyes.
Like a couple of kids with scuffed skateboards and jeans that droop to mid-thigh, soft young faces trying to look tough and mean under their baseball caps.

Cross just one street in the other direction, and you don't see any of these people. You see tourists, and the people who work in the touristy shops. You see vaguely college-aged out-of-towners like me, plugged into our iPods on the way to work, not really present at all, everything about our stance and focus saying "I'm just passing through, thanks."

Just blogging what I see, friends. Thanks for reading.