| Monday, October 6, 2008 |
| A Day In Portland (Part 1) |
Portland is like a sociologist's playground. I have no classes on Thursday, so I try to go explore Portland every Thursday. The places I go are often irrelevant, and I'm usually more intrigued by the people I encounter. I think that me posting some random observations I made while going through Portland every week will make this blog more interesting to read and write.
Part 1 takes place on October 2nd. I took the Pioneer Express to Pioneer Square and then walked to Jackpot Records, Carl Jr's (farther south) to get some food, Upper Playground clothing store (north again, near Jackpot), and then back to Pioneer Square. The trip was from around 1-4. Here are the things I encountered and the observations I made:
- I saw a (supposed) homeless man screaming obscenities at a really nice parked car. He was cursing at the car for being so expensive and talking about how he barely had money to eat. It made me think of the financial gap in our society. Some people can spend a whole lot of money on flashy cars while others starve on the streets. Neither of them seem to hold each other in such high regard.
- Some people are scared to make eye contact. I saw one man just looking far ahead in front of him not taking in any surroundings. Maybe he was bored with life, or not interested in the world.
- I walked by a (supposed) homeless man and he asked me for a cigarette. I didn't have one. The thing is I saw like four other people walking by him and he didn't ask them. I guess theres something about my appearance or age that would suggest I smoke cigarettes.
- The only people who really interacted with me while I was walking down the street were acknowledging the Barack Obama shirt I had on. One lady gave me a thumbs up and mouthed hope, and another lady told me nice shirt (she was wearing an Obama shirt too). The ladies were much older than me, and I'm sure if I wasn't wearing that shirt we never would have interacted. I suppose that's part of Obama's draw, he brings people from different walks of life together.
- When I went to Carl Jr's there was a (supposed) homeless man filling out a job application. He asked me what the minimum wage was. I was saddened that he didn't know.
- The people at Carl Jr's gave me my meal and said in the most monotone voice, "thank you, have a great day." That type of forced conversation just makes everyone uncomfortable. Why do companies force employees to feign emotions and sincerity?
- A young lady, probably a college student, was taking photographs at Pioneer Square. There was a man leaning on a statue and talking to him that she wanted to take a picture of. She tried to be slick about it and aim her camera somewhere else when he was looking in her direction. As soon as he looked away she quickly took a picture of him. It was pretty funny to watch. Would he have gotten mad if he saw her?
- The most interesting thing I saw today was a (supposed) homeless man and his dog sitting down. The man had his hands out in the air and was definitely trying to grab at something above him that I couldn't see. Then three other (supposed) homeless people came up to him. One was a lady wheeling a cart of coffee sweetener, filters, cups, etc. The other man had a huge mug full of coffee. They offered the coffee to the man with the dog and then proceeded to go around Pioneer Square offering other (supposed) homeless people coffee. I came to the conclusion that a lot of these people were homeless by choice. I also recognized the unique sense of community that comes with being homeless. The only thing these people had in common was that they were homeless, yet they were still looking out for each other and helping each other. How come people with homes don't go around giving other people with homes coffee?
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posted by MaSh @ 1:13 AM  |
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