Walking the sky-ways especially in winter is certainly something. There are segments where I might walk a little quicker due to sights, sounds, or smells. Sometimes the internal fight or flight is kicking in, but for the most part it’s just a pleasant stroll through an above ground tunnel. Part of the experience for me is looking into the eyes of the people I pass and acknowledging their existence. Nothing cuts the tension quite like a pleasant greeting from a giant bald man. I do this enough that I have some greeting friends.
One of my favorites is a street dude that works the sketchier parts of the system. What’s up Pimp?! and my reply is always “I don’t make that kind of money” we both forced chuckle and move on our merry ways. He even does it while in a crowd of his contemporaries which usually results in some form of How you know bit white dude? I never stick around for the response but I get the feeling that its not bad.
A big trend tunnel wide is a loud portable speaker in the backpack or as I like to call it, Invisible Boombox. These guys (all male by the way not a generalization) goal is to be the loudest while pretending that the volume is normal and they are just enjoying the soothing mumble rap. It doesn’t really bother me unless two or more converge then its just an assault of sound.
This morning I was aknowleging another more than middle aged white man with the head nod when I noticed that blaring from his shoulder slung backpack was Christmas Music. It was cranked up and he had a huge smile on his face. I did the universal pantomime question face - both eyebrows raised high until a response is given. Once he picked up what I was putting down he shouted his answer. Counter programming!
I love that this guy woke up and chose musical violence. I hope he stayed safe out there blasting holiday joy. We had a double homicide in the system last night at 8:30 which seems early for murder but I’m not a great killing time barometer. Lest you think me exaggerating… here’s a link to the story.
I was going to go for a walk tonight but I’ll save that for tomorrow. Nights when there are hockey games have a not-so-surprising police presence. Stay safe out there.