A Moment

[tealin]

This evening I had a distinctly ironic experience. A decent-looking man got on the bus dressed in a business suit,* sat down in the parallel seats across from me, and, once settled, proceeded to sign a graffiti-style tag in the fog on the window.

Since today is rife with irony (and also wet), and since I have given up on cleaning my room to clean up my computer instead, an Amusing Photo Treat:



*Not uncommon in my city blessed with good public transit (dunno WHERE I might be directing this...)

Comments

A dig at L.A.??

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

That does sound kinda surreal (there's a great This American Life episode all about staged public surreal "events" - more on that if you're interested). All I can say in defense of L.A.'s buses is that, every day, "interesting" people (usually not in buisness suits) do REALLY "interesting" things on the bus that are highly memorable! I could list specific examples, or just leave it up to your imagination...

[fani.livejournal.com]

At least the bus in ur place dun have GRANNIES all over hte place like mine has:P

[wicked-warrior.livejournal.com]

You should have searched around the corners of the bus for hidden cameras or something, that's pretty... strange :P

I follow orders

[(Anonymous)]

They had a cone in my office lobby this morning that read "Wet Floor."

So I did.

A²

[anarchistbrew.livejournal.com]

Did he just use his finger to write it? Nothing permanent? Doesn't sound that odd to me; I do stuff like that all the time. He probably just thought that no one was watching him.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I was right across the bus from him, very obviously sitting there! It didn't look as though he did it for my attention, but if he was trying to impress me he's obviously very bad at picking up visual clues to a person's ideology.

(Though, upon reflection, that would be fitting...)

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

This does sound a bit surreal.

[lync180.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call this event surreal or anything like that. I do find it amusing though. I would have stopped to ponder this if I was in your shoes too. I think its funny how people put on a suit and it becomes their identity. Trying to fit into the mold society expects of us in order to collect a paycheck. On the outside you see this business man, but lo and behold he writes a graffiti tag on the window. It would make me wonder what he does or DID do in his younger days. Maybe running around the streets with a gang of friends, sneaking into train stations late at night to tag them. This same fellow now sits in an office, maybe doing your taxes? I find it interesting that people assume so much about the strangers they meet without ever knowing who they really are. Welp, that's all from my brain for one day. P.S. I went to pick up my T4 the other day, I looked for you but couldn't find you...maybe next time. Later

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

You make some excellent points here - easy to make assumptions about someone's clothes or facial expression (sometimes the "default" expression doesn't really reflect their mood or personality) or job or car (or lack thereof) - I'm sure I do it all the time. Just shows to go ya...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

According to my 'default' facial expression, I'm sullen, petulant and depressed – That's me!

(can't find an emoticon for S P and D)

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

Oh come on - is that what you think you look like? You often (but not always) have an intensity (I think when you're deep in thought, or really concentrating on something) that could be mistaken for being annoyed, or worried, by someone who didn't know you that well. Besides, it seems like you smile plenty whenever there's something worth smiling about. And, hey, I'm told the sullen, petulant, and depressed-Bronte-heroine look is really hot these days, anyway. ;)

I find that |: ' works

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

All I know is, since I was a small child, people would come up and ask in a concerned voice, 'Are you all right?' Not people who know me, though (generally) ... you have a point.

I'll take 'intense' over 'sullen' any day.

Re: I find that |: ' works

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I hate that. People come up to you and ask, "What's wrong?" just because you're not in the habit of walking around smiling like a character in an old Disney movie! My English teacher does it all the time... That thing with the businessman sounds very surreal, for sure. I could see my dad absentmindedly drawing a smily face on a foggy bus window if he rode a bus to work, and he did wear a suit to work until they changed the dress code policy, though. But a graffiti tag? You mean, something like "PIMPMASTAH J WAZ HERE", in those weird bubble letters?
-Gyakutenno

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It was more ... something spiky and unintelligible.

Emerging from the darkness...

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

What a great opening sentence to a story! If I wasn't so lazy I'd do a drawing.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Drawing! Drawiiing!

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

Oh, the pressure! (brief sigh) Well, Ok, but you're gonna have to wait until I get some stuff done first (like picking up my roommates since their car is busted - they were going to drive it downtown and back when it's totally overheating. Can you believe it? *sigh* Kids...!).

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

If anybody cares, you can check my "journal" for the picture I did. That is all.

Re: I find that |: ' works

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

Well, how annoying. I suppose it could be worse - people have come to all kinds of interesting conclusions about me, based on first impressions (like the day I was treated like a homeless squatter by a security guard AND a dangerous pedophile by kids I'd been asked to pick up from school, as well as attendant teachers...it's quite a story!). I guess it's a lesson to us all about how first impressions can be way off the mark, right?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wouldn't say it's surreal ... just ironic. If he'd come on the bus ina giraffe costume and proceeded to write 'Yvan eht Nioj' on the window, THAT would have been surreal.

It is scientifically proven (and not much of a surprise) that people can't help but make snap judgements about a stranger in the first few seconds of seeing them. It's one of those hard-wired biological things. And, perhaps in response to this, people often dress in such a way as to convey immediately who they are (or who they'd like you to think they are). Of course, certain social pressures often force people to change their costumes, but I marvel that someone who obviously still finds satisfaction in openly tagging a window (however impermanently) was even interested in getting a 'suit' job. And, upon getting a 'suit' job, was still interested in tagging windows. The two, in my mind, go as well together as tuna fish and marmalade. But then, that's my unfounded and biased snap judgement... there may be any number of reasons other than the obvious for both his suit and his tag.

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

I tell you in all seriousness that great stories, sometimes screenplays, are born this way. (and you're right, "surreal" was a poor choice of words) What is this guy's story? You've probably heard that the guy who wrote and directed "Crash" was carjacked at gunpoint, and wondered what the two theives were really like - what they believed, what they thought of themselves, what they did in their "off hours", etc. With all your spare time (LOL!) you should write about this!

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

or at least draw a picture, you drawing machine!

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

at least draw the giraffe writing "join the navy" :)

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

It looks really sad and pathetic when I've posted seven - make that EIGHT - comments in a row, doesn't it? As if I'm just muttering to myself in an empty, echoing dark room...hey, my online experience has caught up to my real life!

suit

[(Anonymous)]

Perhaps he'd been to court for vandalising!