Yesterday, strolling home after my last final of the semester, I'd been sort of abandoned by my classes into a "What now?" headspace, which was totally unlike me. I was content, and totally digging on the freedom, but... It's vacation. There are adventures to be had, but I don't know who I'm supposed to have them with, where I'm supposed to be when I have them. For the first time in recent memory, I wanted some sort of pre-existing plan in place that I could just float along.
Yeah, I don't get it either.Passing Time Market, my heart leapt with joy as I heard the distinct sound of the enthusiastic ramblings of a chemically liberated transient. For those of you who doubt your own sense of vocabulary, I'll dumb it down. You were right. I was really jazzed because I heard a homeless guy, probably on drugs, rambling.He was the kind you see at bus stations in the middle of the night, bumming smokes and selling stolen walkmans, beer on their breath and smiles on their faces. A long brown jacket, a green beenie, sun-wrinkled skin. He was talking to these two freshmen-looking kids, a boy a girl, sitting in a convertible, who made no indication of being irritated or wanting him to stop so they could leave. They were smiling, enjoying the mad. I walked behind the crazed transient as I passed, but smiled at the kids in the car and nodded. The girl, she stealthily took the briefest moment to look at me and let a smile dance smile across the corners of her lips, before returning her rapt attention to him. Right as I was coming up on them, though, right as I was passing, I heard it. A moment of universal truth, a pearl of utter wisdom from a drugged out transient who probably couldn't write his name out to save his life."See, you don't know what you gotta do, but I TELL you what you gotta DO, man..." At this point he closed his eyes and leaned back, as though shouting his prophetic self straight to the heavens."You gotta SHAKE. You gotta SHAKE, RATTLE and ROLL, man. THAT's what you gotta do."Damn straight. -Alex
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