Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Seven, HWDs and The Establishment

This was originally posted on Desomnia in Drull, however I felt that it should also find it's way over here...

So I'm riding the Seven home last night. It was just a standard bus ride at first. I was sitting in the back lounge area, because it was the only comfortable seat available. Those of you with long legs may have realized by now that only half of the seats are comfortable. So I've got my headphones on minding my own business when this teenage guy starts running his mouth. At first I don't even bother to listen and just continue listening to Parklife. However I notice that this was quickly becoming volatile and should probably keep an ear open just in case. It wasn't even two minutes before this kid announces, "It's the fucking establishment! Like this honky white devil here!" (points at me) "He's a part of the ESTABLISHMENT!!!" I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I mean seriously? People say that kind of thing? When did tolerance become a one way street? So the kid is all fired up and an older Hispanic man chimes in, "Go to Mexico." They then have a back and forth, the kid with broken ebonics and the man in broken spanglish. I wasn't able to follow the words they produced but some how they came to an agreement and a few stops later when the man was exiting the bus they actually exchanged an embrace. What a strange thing the Seven is. These are the kinds of encounters that the Seattle Times refers to as "a colorful part of daily life".