Spare The Rod
When we last left Daniel, he was walking along the floodwall, with ex-convict Rod at his side, headed for Dorises house at a rate which would have the unlikely pair showing up at that dwelling almost 4 hours before the time of "8:30" which was prescribed by Dorise over the phone from Connecticut.
Rod was out of money.
Daniel had the 13 dollars from the sale of the Jasmine guitar minus a beer and a dollar which Daniel kind of felt like he had been conned out of, excuse the pun....
Daniel was hoping that somehow, Dorises housemate had gotten off of work early and would be there to hand over the Jasmine guitar and thus bring the first stage of closure to the ordeal of selling it to Rod.
He was uncomfortable about the way that Rod had paid him for the thing before it was in his hands; and then had shown an inclination to want Daniel to spend the money upon both of them; as they hung out and waited until "8:30."
This smelled of a hustle.
If Rod had kept the money, then he wouldn't be able to spend any of it or he would be short of the cost of the Jasmine.
By putting the money in Daniels hands, he was then able to turn around and exert subtle manipulative psychological pressures; of the kind that you learn during a 25 years prison stay.
It basically boiled down to the fact that Rod had guessed correctly that Daniel was going to be drinking beer at some point along the 6 mile (round trip) walk to Dorises house and back; and all the proper groundwork had been layed by him, in the form of his being charming and amusing and repeatedly thanking Daniel for turning his whole life to the good, by putting a guitar in his hands.
He had told charming and amusing stories; and just generally (Daniel believed in hindsight) tried to establish a rapport of the kind which might communicate to a person that, if he is parched from walking through the 90 degree air and comes upon a little convenience store along the way; then why, surely his new pal whom he has gotten to really like, must be equally parched and, surely it would only seem natural to get him a beer too, while you're in there...
As Daniel tells it...
"Hey, I'm considering this 6 mile walk to be like a job where I'm earning 15 bucks," I said to Rod after I emerged from the little convenience store, holding one (1) beer.
"Oh, I understand," said Rod.
"I mean, I sold the Jasmine pretty cheap, and frankly I would feel like a fool if I spent all the money and wound up taking a 6 mile walk for nothing."
"Oh, I understand."
Then, a couple blocks up the road, looking at the can of beer in my hand which was quarter empty: "Is that still cold?"
The Pick Pocket
Early Friday morning, the pick pocket guy came around and got me again; after I was derelict of having taken my cash out of my back pocket and stashed it in my backpack; an action that would have taken 17 seconds to do.
I guess I underestimated the buggers ability to ferret his way through heavy shrubbery and I underappreciated just how deep a sleeper I must be....
He once again repositioned my guitar as an "I could have taken this," token(In truth, he wouldn't have been able to get it through the briar).
I suppose I should thank the guy if I see him on the street...
I've talked to other people about him.
They say his "name" is "lucky," and a couple of heavyset middle-aged black men whom I talked to spoke quite admiringly about the talent of that man; saying that he is a professional who uses an arsenal of tools like tape and razor blades and practices using a buddy to play the victim..."Did you feel that?"
I couldn't help ruminating that he is indeed lucky that nobody has yet caved in his head with a tool of their own, lika an 18 oz. hammer.
So, Friday, I woke up broke.
But Ron the surfer still owed me 7 bucks.
Ron the surfer was broke and didn't seem apologetic about it.
Howard lent me 5 bucks and that started me off and I had about a 20 dollar Friday night.
People I Met Today: Friday
I began my routine stroll down Royal Street; and here are some of the sights which I saw...
After first encountering The Guy With The Loud Voice Who Plays A Fender Acoustic, I then ran into The Brooding Black Man Who Plays A Fender Acoustic...
He does bluesey renditions of songs and sings in a kind of Issac Hayes way.
He does have CDs for sale (10 bucks) and they are recordings made on a hand held digital recorder of him playing and singing; done in a certain court which is quiet and has good reverb...
Then, At the very next block were these guys who are from some foreign country which escapes my memory right now. They pretty much play a lot of Chuck Berry sounding rock and roll instrumentals and complain that they very much need a bass player.
He had one 5 dollar bill in the box after a couple of songs.
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| New Feature: People I Met Today |
Rod was out of money.
Daniel had the 13 dollars from the sale of the Jasmine guitar minus a beer and a dollar which Daniel kind of felt like he had been conned out of, excuse the pun....
Daniel was hoping that somehow, Dorises housemate had gotten off of work early and would be there to hand over the Jasmine guitar and thus bring the first stage of closure to the ordeal of selling it to Rod.
He was uncomfortable about the way that Rod had paid him for the thing before it was in his hands; and then had shown an inclination to want Daniel to spend the money upon both of them; as they hung out and waited until "8:30."
This smelled of a hustle.
If Rod had kept the money, then he wouldn't be able to spend any of it or he would be short of the cost of the Jasmine.
By putting the money in Daniels hands, he was then able to turn around and exert subtle manipulative psychological pressures; of the kind that you learn during a 25 years prison stay.
It basically boiled down to the fact that Rod had guessed correctly that Daniel was going to be drinking beer at some point along the 6 mile (round trip) walk to Dorises house and back; and all the proper groundwork had been layed by him, in the form of his being charming and amusing and repeatedly thanking Daniel for turning his whole life to the good, by putting a guitar in his hands.
He had told charming and amusing stories; and just generally (Daniel believed in hindsight) tried to establish a rapport of the kind which might communicate to a person that, if he is parched from walking through the 90 degree air and comes upon a little convenience store along the way; then why, surely his new pal whom he has gotten to really like, must be equally parched and, surely it would only seem natural to get him a beer too, while you're in there...
As Daniel tells it...
"Hey, I'm considering this 6 mile walk to be like a job where I'm earning 15 bucks," I said to Rod after I emerged from the little convenience store, holding one (1) beer.
"Oh, I understand," said Rod.
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| A Wrought Iron? Gate Along The Way... |
"I mean, I sold the Jasmine pretty cheap, and frankly I would feel like a fool if I spent all the money and wound up taking a 6 mile walk for nothing."
"Oh, I understand."
Then, a couple blocks up the road, looking at the can of beer in my hand which was quarter empty: "Is that still cold?"
The Pick Pocket
Early Friday morning, the pick pocket guy came around and got me again; after I was derelict of having taken my cash out of my back pocket and stashed it in my backpack; an action that would have taken 17 seconds to do.
I guess I underestimated the buggers ability to ferret his way through heavy shrubbery and I underappreciated just how deep a sleeper I must be....
He once again repositioned my guitar as an "I could have taken this," token(In truth, he wouldn't have been able to get it through the briar).
I suppose I should thank the guy if I see him on the street...
I've talked to other people about him.
They say his "name" is "lucky," and a couple of heavyset middle-aged black men whom I talked to spoke quite admiringly about the talent of that man; saying that he is a professional who uses an arsenal of tools like tape and razor blades and practices using a buddy to play the victim..."Did you feel that?"
I couldn't help ruminating that he is indeed lucky that nobody has yet caved in his head with a tool of their own, lika an 18 oz. hammer.
So, Friday, I woke up broke.
But Ron the surfer still owed me 7 bucks.
Ron the surfer was broke and didn't seem apologetic about it.
Howard lent me 5 bucks and that started me off and I had about a 20 dollar Friday night.
People I Met Today: Friday
After first encountering The Guy With The Loud Voice Who Plays A Fender Acoustic, I then ran into The Brooding Black Man Who Plays A Fender Acoustic...
He does bluesey renditions of songs and sings in a kind of Issac Hayes way.
He does have CDs for sale (10 bucks) and they are recordings made on a hand held digital recorder of him playing and singing; done in a certain court which is quiet and has good reverb...
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| Then, on the very next block was the nice Adrianne Edsen, singing in a rather lilting alto accompanied by mandoline, harmonica, and tambourine, played by bare foot. I had heard her a few times, but never introduced myself until yesterday. She let me take her picture and even offered to move into the sunlight after we saw how shadowy the picture came out, but, I preferred to have a picture of her "in action." She pulled in about 10 dollars in tips as I stood there for 20 minutes of lilting. She played "Blowing In The Wind," by Bob Dylan. |
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| Wait, There's More!! |
Another day of bummin' and scammin' and being bummed from and scammed .... what an adventure.
ReplyDeleteI really think you ought to consider getting a job washing dishes or something (because NOLA will always need a few good dishwashers, and restaurant jobs generally involve a lot of free food) and thus earn enough money to rent a room. I can find rooms to rent in the SF Bay Area for $300 a month, so you should be able to do that or cheaper there. A room means you can store your stuff without it getting stolen, plus you can amass some simple musical tools like a CD burner and start selling CDs. Your music may not appeal to all, but make up a colorful "cover" for 'em and they ought to sell.
Then, you're making money to rent the room etc., plus you have a CD out and may get the attention of someone other than a panhandler or the local Social Services. By this I mean, some clean, washed, non-drunk/stoned person or persons who may help you get ahead musically.
If you still have that in mind.