Walking to Sainsbury's, that is the sort of mid-scale grocery that sells out of produce and bread by 9 o'clock, leads me along a road that follows some elevated train tracks. I'm not sure what to call the edifice on which the tracks lie. A bridge? In any event it is black and grimy and bespeaks Victorian gloom. The sidewalk next to it is splattered with pigeon feces and there are a series of brick warehouses built on either side of it.

It is perennially dark and wet, but it is the shortest way to the grocery.

So I was walking down this road, daydreaming about... when two West Indian guys emerge from the shadows and give me a:

"Hey mon, you give us a hand pushin this car?"

"Sure."

So I help them push it almost parallel to the car behind it, thinking for some reason they wanted to jump it, and I turn to leave.

"No boss, we gotta take it a bit further. Come on, be a sport."

I hesitated briefly.

"Okay."

So we push it around the corner through the gate of a 10 ft tall chain link fence into utter darkness. At this point the car gets heavier and I realize I am the only one pushing. I start to wonder if the guy is going to crack my head like an egg with a tire iron. We round another corner and are now behind a warehouse. Suddenly, the car stops. The left rear tire is in a huge pothole. I clench my teeth and rock the car backward and push it with all my strength. The car lurches out of the hole and starts forward at a clip. The guy next to me almost trips trying to catch up to the car because he's been trying to preserve the illusion that he is pushing too by keeping his hands on it. I hear the clanking of a serrated metal door raising and a dim light. The car turns into it and the guy says,

"That's good, Thannks mon"

I rock my head in acknowledgement and with a sudden burst of bravado try very hard to walk at a normal pace out of there. I have to admit, I'm too preconditioned against African-Americans. I don't think I would have EVER done that in NYC or Chicago. But the Carribbean accents these guys had only brought about associations of reggae and 7up... and though I was scared once we were in a dark alley behind a fence that thoughts of foul play (beyond them stealing a car which I thought when they first wanted it pushed off the street) only entered my mind. It occurs to me that this is an utterly irrational way to look at the world, but one that is as conditioned as ketchup on french fries. I think most people, myself included, could do with some introspection as to why they perceive people as they do.


I think I'm going to start posting which books I'm reading, just in case anybody ever wants to discuss them. Maybe I'll myspace-ify the whole blog!

Current Mood: Sassy
Currently listening to: Pussycat Dolls
Currently watching: The Notebook
Current favorite magazine: Tiger Beat
Current favorite color: Royal blue
Current interests: Eating, Sleeping, Partying, Movies, Video Games, Goin out wit mah girlfriend!, staring at racks
Current orientation: North
Current relationship status: Terminal
Currently reading:

Liudprand of Cremona - "Antapodosis" (Medieval Chronicle of western bishop sent on diplomatic missions to Constantinople)

Constantine Porphyrogenitus (Emperor Constantine VII) - "De Administrando Imperio" (Foreign policy guide for his son... briefing him on the political situation of all peoples surrounding and within the Empire... this is AMAZING)

Anonymous - "The Russian Primary Chronicle" (pretty self explanatory)

Partonen and Magnusson - "Seasonal Affective Disorder: Practice and Research" (My dad bought this or me... Do I seem that gloomy?? I want to read it before winter is out.)

I have to kick my reading into overdrive now. I've been slacking. I think this is about the maximum I can read in one day with any hope of recalling any of it. We'll see if I'm successful if I put up new books tomorrow. I'll be honest :P The science book will actually help. I've somehow convinced myself that if I read in one genre for too long continuously, that my reading slows down and comprehension decreases. So by mixing in something different my mind stays alert. Hmmm.

??/??/? 0rz