Ok. It's lunch time, kind of, and it just took me 45 minutes to eat a salad because the phone would not stop ringing, people's ordered lunches would not stop arriving at my desk, and other random people kept showing up and asking dumb questions... You'd think on a 65 degree, windy, rainy, Friday, maybe people would want to lay low and chill out, but apparently they prefer bugging me when I'm trying to eat.
And don't give me any of that "They're not really out to bug YOU" crap, because I know they are. Everyone is out to get me, people, and if that means calling and bothering me to such a degree that my brains actually explode out of my ears from the pressure, they'll do it. They're out to GET me. Remember that. Especially the slime molds.
Anyway, so I'm in the midst of my frantic running about/answering phones/signing for packages/smiling at whoever comes in/arranging messenger packages/blah blah blah, when in comes The Blue Guy. He's been in here a bunch of times, and I think I've even blogged about him before. Now, when I'm in the midst of my frantic trying-to-stuff-my-face-between-calls mode, it's easier to take things in stride because I already look frazzled and a moment of blank "Oh my god" staring might not be taken as rude. But, it's really hard not to stare at this guy. He's bluish grey ALL over. He's like the color of "steel blue" crayons. It's weird to see someone who looks like that. It makes you step back for a second and stare, then pretend not to stare.
I find myself doing that a lot in the city, where strange looking people abound. Sometimes staring is kind of warranted, like when you see a girl dressed in an insanely slutty outfit at ten on a Tuesday morning for no apparent reason, or a hardcore punked out kid on the Upper East side or something--people like that obviously WANT to be stared at in some way or another. But then there are people you're not supposed to really stare at, ever, but who it's hard NOT to want to examine. Especially "little people" or those in wheelchairs, disabled people who are making a fine display of themselves as they go down the sidewalk, flamboyant people (there are LOTS of ways of being flamboyant), and even really ugly people sometimes. And Blue Guy, of course. You want to stare, but you can't. So you look away and walk on by.
But then, when I'm walking by, I always think, "What if that person is offended that I DIDN'T look? What if he thinks I'm ignoring him and thus his condition, which he represents to the world?" So I try to look for a second, maybe do a short nod of acknowledgment, and move on. But then I feel really awkard cause I hate making eye contact with ANYONE on the street...
Ah, whatever. Blue Guy just left and I'm already bored with this topic.
Anyway, I'm off to PA for a day and a half, then back to the city to grind out a few more days. SO busy at the moment - deadlines looming, casting to be done, promos to put together for our promo PARTY next weekend, columns to write, agent queries to work on, books to read, homework to do, and general madness to try to kepe at bay.
Till next time.
Le Gross National Happiness
16 years ago
Posts
Yo, when I worked on 23rd between 5th & 6th there was a person who frequented the neighborhood with a skin condition that I cannot even put into words, I'll try though. The person truly looked like they wore a mask. The person was covered and I mean covered with growths, lets say cysts all over the face and hands. SO HARD NOT TO STARE, even harder not become nauseus thus guilty thus ashamed for nauseating reaction thus pained for this person. I finally mentioned it to someone at work and realized that this person wasn't a figment of my imagination and that others actually saw what I saw and experienced the roller coaster ride of emotions when passing by on the street....NYC, its a helluva town. We all got a lil monster in us, I guess ;)
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