Can I Buy You A Drink?

When you're out at a bar, you get chatted up, and perhaps someone will offer to buy you a drink. This happens much more in movies than it does in my life, but it does happen every now and then. Just now, however, I got chatted up on the street, on my way to the store, and had a fellow attempt to pay for my half gallon of milk. What an odd thing.

I'm walking to the store because I think I don't get enough physical activity, and I'm trying to incorporate it more in my transportation. I could ride my bike but I'm in no hurry, and I think walking will provide more exercise. Also, not driving is sooo good for the earth and society and etcetera.

So I do this thing where if I cross someone on the street at night, I try to make eye contact and say hello. The reasons behind this are twofold: friendliness/community and also, it makes me a less appealing target if I can pick someone out of a lineup.

So as I'm walking to the store to get some milk just now, a short exchange of "hello"s and "how are you"s led to asking my name and walking with me the rest of the way to the store. Over the course of our walk, he asked me what I do for fun. I told him that I make videos on the internet, that I'm an artist, that I'm a creative type. He told me he raps. I asked him if he freestyles. He said he did and proved his worth by throwing down some rhymes that were about me but would really work for any girl he was chatting up.

When we got to the store he waited by the register and tried to pay for my milk. I, of course, wouldn't let him. I mean, what? It was just too weird a situation to accept a......drink.

As we left I told him that I was headed home and as nice as he was, I wasn't ready for him to know where I lived. He seemed to understand and asked if he could have my number or give me his. I asked if that, too, could wait until we ran into each other again.

As I walked home I wondered: would I have given that guy my number if he was wearing a plaid shirt and horn-rimmed glasses instead of a flat-brimmed baseball cap with his hair in braids? Is it terrible to favor someone of my own culture / subculture?

Maybe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Now give me 50 cents.

It is a beautiful day. I got out of work an hour early today, which was superb. I'm not really wearing green, though that is the requirement for getting your free cone at Stewart's. At least, that is what it always was for as long as I can remember, and I've lived in the Capital Region since I was little. When I asked for a cone, the cashier sort of looked at me funny, and then eyed me up and down, seeing if he could spot my green. I held out to him the translucent green circles hanging from long chains dangling from my ears. We had a brief discussion about how they were just barely green when he cuts me off--"you know that'll be fifty cents, right?"

"You're joking" I say.

This is not the first time today where someone asked me for a small portion of money for something that shouldn't cost anything. The security guard at the door of the school I subbed in told me he would let me back in (I had to go to my car), but for a dollar.

However, unlike the security guard, the man at Stewart's was not joking.

"Everywhere?" I ask.

He explains that because college students had exploited the free cone day last year, going from shop to shop, they now have to charge.

"But that's what you do." I replied, as I reluctantly handed him two quarters.

As he argued the value of this purchase I tried to explain to him that I don't really like ice cream, and that now I might not be able to afford beans. At this point he was no longer listening. Perhaps he thought I was joking.

Schenectady Gazette Article featuring Duto.

Pre-Duto Lark Street Free Cone Day: