From Joshua Long’s “Weird City”--
At the corner of 34th and Guadeloupe stands a large man in a tie-dyed shirt. He’s bouncing around, obviously rocking out to whatever tunes are flowing through his headphones. He holds a cardboard sign: BAPTISTS ARE NASTY, MISERABLE PEOPLE. I immediately look for a place to pull over and park. I have to talk to this guy right away. I walk up to the dancing Baptist-hater, camera in hand. There are cars driving by, laying on their horns and yelling shouts of approval. I ask him if I can take his picture, and he obliges, with the condition that I show it to as many people as possible. “Will do,” I say. After I take a couple pictures, we talk for a while. Before I walk away I hand him five dollars, fully expecting this to be part of the usual practice (creativity in panhandling is appreciated more in this city than the usual “hungry, homeless, God bless” stuff). He looks at me, surprised “No man, I work for a living. I just do this on the weekend.”
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