Randi and I first went to the STD Central flea market to see if we could make a deal on our nintendo games. We did and the guy was cool so I thought what we got for them was fair and true.
Then...I took a walk. Due to the force of Irony and my intentions I couldn't tell Randi exactly what my "plan" was but when we parted ways she ran over my foot with the car and that made her feel a little bit better :). Damn I love that girl.
So I walked into the belly of the beast, so to speak. I made my way to the central square where there were A LOT MORE PEOPLE than I expected. It was almost shoulder to shoulder, there were people doing fire tricks in the center, hugely loud music, and people with bull horns speaking about Jesus and Christianity. I wandered a bit and found my way in front and to the side of the bull horn because in my opinion the communication was the most interesting thing going on. But it turns out it wasn't a communication, and barely a message, because while he was speaking words he was not responding or acknowledging the people around him. I don't blame him, there was a lot to take in there and I could hardly keep track of it all but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't start up a dialog.
But just as soon as he was done yelling words I found an interesting fellow beside me named Colin whom I was able to speak with. He was the best! He was everything of thoughtful, intelligent, and personable and I think he was there, just like I was, to observe and see what kind of a spectacle was going on around us.
We talked for awhile and we each gave the other some things to think about and then we parted ways. It makes me sad to think about all the cool people I get to meet only once. But anyway, my next encounter was one to be remembered! I wandered around and found myself next to the sign holder guys in downtown Springfield. Anyone that goes there on the weekends will know who I'm talking about, the one sign that is the most vitriolic that they hold reads "To marry a divorcee is still adultery". But I just spoke with them and told them that I thought it was a very cool thing that they were doing and I agreed with them that what that one sign said is in fact in the bible. We talked and asked each other questions about each others' life and when it was all said and done the dude handed me a $10 bill! Now I was just talking and I don't believe that there was anything I said that implied asking for money but when he was handing that to me I couldn't turn it down. I mean, that's a lot of gas money, paper money (for resumes), and other things that keep us going and happy. And we are broke. We're so 'po' we can't afford the 'or'. lol
So anyway, after that I wandered my way to a bench and sat for a good long time just rolling a few coins around in my hand and finally decided that it was time to go home. So the operation was a success because the two things that I intended to accomplish when I was down there I did (talk with people and find some money) but now that I know better what I'm walking into when I go downtown on an eventful Friday or Saturday night I can make my prayers more targeted to what i hope to accomplish.
Four miles later I was home and ready to sleep on the couch. Next, we sell plasma!