Helene Kwong: Renaissance Woman

I was on the bus today, taking the #47 back home. I didn’t really realize until later that I was surrounded by a rather eclectic crowd of people. There was a guy sitting beside me, who looked normal/sane at first, but after I sat down beside him, I realized he had a bit of a nervous tick and kept babbling on about random things–like about the weather in Chicago. I wasn’t sure if he had an earpiece on and was on a cell phone, but I think the whole time he was just talking to himself. Hmm.

Sitting across from me were two young girls, maybe around high school age. One had weird eyebrows and the other looked scenester/hip. Sitting near them was this scraggly, kind of dirty looking man in a long leather jacket; he was chatting and getting a little cozy with this Asian woman who looked a little scared, tired, etc. She wore a fur coat and snowboots, but was wearing a short dress/skirt. From the way these two were interacting, it seemed like the woman was probably a prostitute and the man was her customer. I highly doubt they were actual lovers, since I overheard the woman ask the guy what his name was (yet all this time, the guy had his arms around her and everything).

Then sitting beside me were two young women, maybe in their twenties, gossiping about their previous night’s adventures upon Treasure Island. There was definitely a big “San Franciscan” feel to the whole scene, and for some reason I still felt a little surprised by the diverse mix of people on the bus. I guess it’s mainly because I felt like I was the only “normal” person there, but then again, others probably thought I was weird as well. Oh well.