I was walking to work and I passed a cake shop that specializes in wedding cakes. I've walked by it a hundred times but for some reason, only yesterday did I really notice the side window display.
I kind of love it. Total incongruity. Nothing about it makes sense.
Further up the street, in a sketchier part of the block, I passed a 7-Eleven. There was a woman walking out the door, obviously irate, yelling and swearing at some dude inside. It seemed like par for the course, and she wasn't yelling at me, so I kept walking, listening over my headphones to Alec Baldwin talk to Edie Falco about her life and career.
On the next corner was a woman with a ripped backpack at her feet. She was wearing dirty tube socks but no shoes. As I walked toward her, she made the "talking on the phone" sign, holding her hand to her ear with thumb and pinky finger outstretched, and mouthed to me, "call the police."
At first I wasn't sure she was talking to me, so I ignored it. She continued to gesture towards me and mouthed "call 911" while punching imaginary telephone buttons with her finger in the air.
I took my headphones off.
"Call the police. Call 911," she said,
"Why?" I asked.
"There's a crazy crackhead lady in the 7-Eleven, attacking people, ripping doors off cars, she's going nuts and abusing people."
I didn't want to ask how the lady was ripping the doors off cars while inside the 7-Eleven. It seemed beside the point.
"Call the police," she said again.
"Ok, listen," I said. "I'll dial 911 and place the call, and you can talk to the dispatcher. I don't have any information to give them."
I dialed 911 on my phone, activated the call, and handed her the phone.
After a second, she says, "Yeah, hey hon. It's me. Mmm-hmm. Yeah, I'm here on Colfax, near the intersection with Pennsylvania. There's some crazy lady in the 7-Eleven attacking people."
At this point, I'm utterly confused. I know that the call was placed to 911, and the woman did not hang up or redial or anything like that. Does she know the 911 lady? Are they buddies?
"Yeah, you know it," she continued, still talking to the 911 operator. "Always somethin' around here. Alright, baby. Bye."
This is the greatest thing ever, I thought to myself. It was kind of exhilarating. How amazing would it be to be able to call 911 and be all, "yeah, boo, how're mom'n'ems, maybe I'll see you later..."
She handed me back my phone.
I started to walk away, and said, "OK, well, good luck."
"I don't need luck," she responded. "Luck is the devil's work."
Okay, then.
Always somethin' indeed.
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