kfeazell's Blog
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"Please don't go to Hell": Characters on the Bus
- Posted on 01.30.10
The bus is one of the best places I've found for people-watching, which actually tends to be people-staring for me. I have no doubt that I get stared at too for things I've done like frantically putting on makeup on the way to work, unzipping and zipping my backpack obsessively to make triple sure I have all the documents I need for a flight, or carrying a 1920s typewriter swaddled in bubble wrap and held like it's a baby. I do weird stuff too so I try not to judge. But there are a few characters who really stand out to me.
The Evangelist
One of my favorites is The Evangelist. I was on the local 20 yesterday and encountered her. She wears a green vest with "Please don't go to Hell" embroidered on the right and "Believe in Jesus" on the left. I live in Koreatown and have seen The Evangelist around town recently and as late as ten years ago when I lived in this neighborhood before. She is a wonderful stereotype--relentless, a little bit pushy in handing out tracts, and completely dedicated to "saving" the world. She also doesn't speak English so from my perspective, her whole prayer was in tongues so she is continually "slain in the spirit." The entire time I was on the bus, she was praying (I assume), out loud. Despite the white gunk at the edge of her mouth resulting from constant use, it was actually pretty beautiful.
As a former zealous evangelist myself, I have both respect and disdain for the act of attempting to convert people to your beliefs. But I have recently settled beyond annoyance to admiration. I decided that if a person truly believes that everyone who doesn't believe the same thing they do about God is going to burn for eternity in hell, it is incredibly selfish to keep that to themselves. (Obviously, this fervent belief lends itself well to distortion beyond good will to outright mass murder of the corrupt heathens.) I think The Evangelist is pure in her faith. She will hold out a tract until you take it but she smiles and appears genuine in her soul-saving goals. I am most impressed because she knows she can't verbally communicate with a lot of people she meets about the impending doom they face but she does the best with what she has and I admire that as a quality.
The Begging Musician
Let me be clear, The Begging Musician is not Juliard dropout who has amazing potential and if only someone will believe in him and help him out, he could get off the streets and have an amazing career, lots of money, and an enormous debt of gratitude to Steve Lopez (loved The Solist). I'm talking about The Begging Musician on the subway who has much more confidence that talent. He steps on to the train, pulls his guitar from his back, pardons the wayward string that almost caused a passenger to lose an eye, and belts out a song:
"Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today..."
It is the worst--and most amazing--rendition I have ever heard. His eyes dart around from behind two pairs of glasses, he sweats a little through his slightly dirty white t-shirt and when he's done with each song, he asks for some money. His undeniable charisma is so powerful that it altered my memory to believe the whole car is singing along. A father gives his toddler son a dollar to give to The Begging Musician and nearly everyone still seated pitches in when the collection plate goes around. I give him the most money I have ever given to someone on the street (which isn't a lot) but he totally earned it.
The Talker
While less inspiring, The Talker deserves a spotlight in my illustrious blog because he has stuck in my mind for years. For months, I rode a commuter bus from the burbs to LA and got to "know" people pretty well because we all rode at the same time. I chatted with some of my neighbors, got to know a formerly homeless elderly woman who volunteered on Skid Row (where I worked at the time), and silently observed The Talker. He wore 80s-style very short shorts that should never have been in style. The Talker is an eccentric, middle-aged, music-obsessed, incessant talker. In his case, I never stared because the consequence of not averting my eyes was a one-sided rant that would not allow for a polite exit. I did enjoy some glances at the unlucky person shifting in their seat who accidentally engaged him in conversation (and then sat away from him the next day).
My encounters with The Talker actually culminated in my living room, while flipping channels. On the local access television station was none other than The Talker, having the exact same conversation on camera that he had had earlier that afternoon on the bus. The Talker was not only famous in my mind, but also in his mind! While I think his audience on the bus was likely larger than the viewer population for his TV show, I felt a little bit like I was among the privileged few to witness a dress rehearsal of some exclusive entertainment event. And I actually did get a little starstruck the next time I saw him on the bus.
The point of this post is that I would not trade these characters for the luxury of listening to the traffic report in the privacy of my own car. And I know I have no basis for this but I truly believe--unlike my belief about most self-important television stars--The Talker would never cut me off in traffic.
Photo: flickr, spike55151
Related causes: Community, Environment
great post!