Things I See in DC - #1

I'm an observer. I watch people and things, trying to make some sense of them. This world is a strange place, and writing down what I see makes me feel like less of an alien.



I see a lot of interesting things in my adopted hometown of DC. So I've decided to start a new segment titled, surprisingly, "Things I See in DC." Here is the first installment, based on things I've seen in April and May of 2012.

Things I See in DC - #1 (April-May, 2012)

My landlord scuffling down the alleyway, a trash bag in his hand, pulled taught. He walks five houses down, dumps his trash in another person’s bin, then struts away nonchalantly.

Three well-aged black men sitting on a front stoop, blowing on Happy Meal kazoos, laughing, celebrating…

She’s blind, the old white woman who wanders my neighborhood, her only safe route the one her faithful dog chooses for her. She looks to be about sixty, but her youthful spirit is evident in her strong legs and broad shoulders. Her hair is thick, nearly white, like dried straw pulled back in a crisp ponytail. She sees, in her own way, and I’m sure it is beautiful.



A young woman, pretty, rich, white, oozing snobbery, chatting on her cell phone as she walks past my front porch. All I hear her say is, “I can deal with a little bit of sleaze, but this guy takes it too far.”




A wall in a bathroom in a bar... Somewhere in DC...