Summer in the city

So, you know, happy summer.

Also I am wearing shorts more often, which is pretty scary beause I have the whitest legs in the whole world. Sure, the rest of me is pale, but my legs seem to be whiter than the rest of me.

I kicked off the season yesterday by attempting to spend some pleasant time outside in a neighborhood park that a friend complained to me nobody seemed to be using. (That's not really true, but there weren't very many people out when he was there Sunday afternoon.)

Anyway, I was sitting on a bench minding my own business, reading the newspaper and enjoying the nice day when I was joined on the bench by a person.

He had a screwdriver in one hand, and he said he wasn't going to hurt me. It's probably a good thing he said that, because if he hadn't it really wouldn't have occurred to me that he wasn't just a random panhandler. (Why is it that people who say "I'm not going to hurt you" always seem to be holding a weapon of some kind?) I would have blown off a random panhandler.

He kept talking for what seemed like several minutes, but probably wasn't that long. Finally, I asked what he wanted, and he said he wanted money. At this point, I'm trying to maintain a conversational tone, because I think that being mangled with a screwdriver would be rather unpleasant. Since he asked for spare change, that's what I offered him.

Of course, he wanted something more. I'm not sure how much "spare change" I was supposed to have had on hand. He kept telling me not to be afraid, which was odd, because he really didn't frighten me. My voice remained calm and my posture stayed exactly the same during the entire incident. However, in the back of my mind I was scanning the park for other people. If he moved toward me in any way I was ready to scream.

So I fished around in my wallet for a second and handed him $3. If he'd got up and left at that point, the incident might have just been weird, but in, uh, thanks, he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

That creeped me out.

The guy walked away, then started running. I packed up my paper and my bottle of water and walked toward home. In the periphery I could see the guy hanging around rhe edge of the park and I wondered how many other people he felt like he needed to hassle that day.

So, anyway, that's how summer started for me. I hope it's not an indicator, or anything.

before - after