Unsung
That teacher you’ll never forget, the one who went above and beyond the curriculum, and who listened – though you were only eight, the policewoman who changed your tire that night in the rain (while you sat in the front seat of her cruiser, ashamed at how the latest instalment of your helpless woman routine had turned out), the mechanic who bought you an ice cream because your car still wasn’t ready, the nurse who stays on past the end of her shift to help a patient through the night, the people who clean up the tracks and the sidewalks after a suicide, people who take the time to send you a line of sweetness, those who leave their cushy lives to bring succour to arid lands (then say they’re only doing their job), people who make maps, people who compile dictionaries, all the “help” who endured my grandmother and her silver bell, whoever it was who first whipped up egg whites, truly fine street musicians, the unerringly curious, the humble, people who get excited about things that I barely notice or brush away, like bugs or bottle caps or Baltic dance, sentimental fools…
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- the lovely fellow in the Powell St. Bart station playing his guitar and digeridoo and all manner of other unusual instruments in the last few days
as yourstruly stops by on his way to catch his train homeward…
— jp Jun 5, 2:56pm # - the old man crossing the street in front of us who makes my little boy laugh by making a funny face
— Beerzie Boy Jun 5, 5:51pm # - the co-worker who always has a smile and the one who always needs one
— Jerry Jun 6, 8:20am # - The bus driver who waits for people chasing the bus. Young people who give their seats to the old and the tired. The woman at the shop or the man behind the bar who remembers what I want and has it on the counter before I get a chance to ask for it. Feeders at the zoo on dark winter mornings (and tiger-shit shovelers, regardless of the time and season). People who put up with me.
— Eeksy-Peeksy Jun 6, 11:52am # - And translators.
— Eeksy-Peeksy Jun 6, 11:54am # - the roommate who schedules her showers around yours, lets you have the last beer, councils you through every fight you have with your family/boyfriend (and takes your side every time), folds the laundry you left in the dryer, lets you use her bubble bath, squeezes the toothpaste from the top…
— sr Jun 6, 1:47pm # - The banking miracle who says, “Well, if you gotta get the car fixed to get home, of course we’ll bump your limit.”
— Dean Allen Jun 6, 3:17pm # - the man who makes coffee for me in the morning even though he himself never drinks any.
— katatonik Jun 6, 3:28pm # - That one Canuck in South of France who makes excellent high quality web code stuff and just gives it away on his site,...and translators.
— SF Jun 7, 10:45am # - The guy who doesn’t giggle when you let out that ugent little fart in the bookstore restroom.
— Taylor Jun 7, 6:23pm # - the overdressed dog pushing a nose toward quaking hearts… the wait for acceptance…
— day Jun 7, 11:50pm # - The caretaker of the severely retarded young man, who leads him over to me at the end of the semester and places the tiny vinca plant in his hand, so that he can hand it to me.
— peggy Jun 8, 9:06am # - The Afghan coke dealers on a wet Amsterdam night who, upon realising your skint, hungry and on acid, offer to buy you whatever you like in the local McDonalds.
— Paul Jun 9, 11:28am # - The substitute teacher who gave you money for lunch even though he knew you would never be able to pay him back
— Chris M Jun 9, 7:48pm # - the friend who sits beside you in your backyard in the pouring, freezing rain while you wait for the locksmith to come and rescue you after you locked your dumb ass outside of the house AGAIN.
— Scottie Jun 14, 8:30pm # - The lady who owns the salon where I get my hair cut, who tells me each time I have been in there “You’re going to be OK. You are such a sweetheart. Anyone who would give you up is crazy”, even though it has been a month since she gave me up, and I still cry like a baby.
— Dave Jun 15, 11:15am # - Oops, forgot one other person. The friend whose bridge I burned 5 years ago, when I met said person who gave me up, being there at 3:00 AM when the door shut for the last time. You’d think after 5 years she would hole some sort of grudge….
— Dave Jun 17, 11:45am # - That bus driver who always flirts with me.
— Marion Jun 17, 3:19pm #
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