i KNOW you!!!

found this pic on someone's blog... a photo she took in TO. i KNOW this guy!!! walking up yonge street every night after work (on my way to the gym), i often saw this man/boy with one of his crazy wigs. once he spoke to me. he asked me where he could catch the subway. i pointed him in the right direction, but i knew he didn't need my help. after all, he's a yonge-street regular! who knows why he chose to stop and speak to me that night, or why he didn't choose a more realistic question to ask (do you have the time? is a good example)... maybe it's because i've made eye contact with him before. i was never repulsed or scared of him. i wasn't even curious as to what his deal was. it was just one of those matters of attraction between two people (no, not sexual attraction) - something about certain folks that pulls you in (but only you - not everyone).

this happened to me once in vancouver, when i was working waaay out in richmond's industrial area. i had to take three buses each morning to get to my office, and all covered great distances. on the last bus, a boy got on. he was really filthy (not in the i didn't shower sense; he had that dirt edged into his fingernails and caked into the cracks on his palms, and there was that certain smell lingering about him that made you realize he was living on the streets). but there was something else about him, too. he took a seat and fell asleep fast, and you could tell the sleep was a deep one, as though he hadn't closed his eyes for days. something about him absolutely enveloped me; i've only had this intense a feeling about another human being once before. i didn't know what to do. i didn't feel sorry for him. i didn't want to know his name. i just knew i had to sit and watch him sleep. it only came to me later that, more than watching him, i felt a responsibility to watch OVER him. and i don't know why. i ended up sitting, watching him, well past my stop. the bus driver even look at me questioningly when i didn't ring the bell - i was the only one who ever got off there in the morning, and he was one of the regular bus drivers i rode with. i went all the way to surrey or langley or somewhere remote, just to watch that boy. and when the driver called final stop, i watched him wake up, gather his bearings, and get off the bus.

i had to get off, too. i did, and grabbed a cab, and listened to live, all over you, with the windows rolled down. i got to work really late that day.