|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
I know a man named Detroit.
#5407599 - 03/16/06 10:09 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
I don't know what it is about Detroit but from the first moment that I laid eyes upon him, I felt some sort of distant kinship with the man. It was a mix of pity and curiosity, I suppose, and the clincher was simply the reading I gave our eye contact moment.
It was early in my tenure at Google when I got off the F line at the 42nd Street subway station one day and got in line with the rest of the ants for the long march up the stairs. I saw Detroit sitting there with his back against the wall on a platform between sets of steps, holding a paper cup and smiling hopefully at all the passersby, not begging so much as trying to make the briefest of connections. I opened my wallet and emptied the contents of one compartment into my hand, a dollar's worth of change or so, subsequently dropping the change into his cup.
His gratitude was sincere, and there was just a certain rapport between us, some sort of je ne sais quoi.
Sometimes he is there, sometimes he is not. I try to give him money whenever I can, and it's funny, because there are other homeless "regulars" in my different daily routines who I will ritualistically snub in much the same way I will ritualistically give to Detroit.
One day when I was leaving work I went down into the Subway and saw him there. I pulled out my wallet on reflexand he put his hand gently on my arm and told me, "You a good man, you know dat? I know you look out fuh me 'n ah really 'ppreciate that. You don' hafta be givin' me money every time you see me, cause I know you lookin' out for me." It kind of killed me. It stirred up a whole mess of wonderment on the train ride back home that evening.
I started wondering about my own subconscious motivation. I had felt a little good, a little proud, to be told by this poor soul that I was, in his eyes at least, a "good man" but I knew I couldn't let that get to my head.
I still see Detroit now and then. I didn't even know his name was Detroit until yesterday. Leaving the subway in the morning he stopped me.
"Yo' name's Mike, right?"
"No, my name's Danny."
"Danny. Danny. Oh, okay...yeah, you a good man Danny, always lookin' out. They's a few of you who's always good to me and I really thank y'all for it. There's a Mike, and a Ted, and a John, and a Jonathan, and y'all really helpin' me out. Ah kin only hope to get myself fixed up one day and repay y'all somehow for yah kindness."
"I hope you can, too.." I said, meaning fix himself up more than find a way of paying me back. "What's your name?"
"Mah name's Detroit," he answered, with a sharp accent on the DEE. "I ain't never been there, neither, but my daddy came from Detroit to New York and that's what he named me. Not many people got this name."
The crowd swelled around us - another F train had come and gone, depositing commuters to empty out in to the streets where they would breathe crisp winter air only briefly before ducking into systematically ventilated office buildings. A breeze washed over the two of us as we shook hands, and I could feel the toughness of life in his dry, ashy skin.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
Edited by OneMoreRobot3021 (03/16/06 10:14 AM)
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
Good heartfelt post here, thanks for sharing.
|
Liz
Owl Lady



Registered: 11/16/04
Posts: 6,962
Loc: Massachusetts
|
|
You're are an excellent writer. I love that post
-------------------- Remember, remember the fifth of November The gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Trav]
#5407621 - 03/16/06 10:18 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
Trav! Great to see you post, I haven't seen you around in a bit. 
(P.S. what's the name of the movie your avatar is from? It keeps escaping my mind and I want to rent it tonight. I was actually gonna PM you about it last night.)
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
Hey man! I have been in the middle of some major life changes but things are finally settling down a bit, which means you'll see me around here a bit more again. The movie Fantastic Planet, by the way.
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Trav]
#5407627 - 03/16/06 10:22 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
FANTASTIC, that was the word I couldn't think of. Thank you.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
No problemo, how's life been with you?
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Trav]
#5407634 - 03/16/06 10:24 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
Eh, okay, paycheck to paycheck, need to find myself a real job rather than this temp BS.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
I hear ya man, I hate working the temp shit but when it comes down to it, at least its work. What would be your ideal job?
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Trav]
#5407650 - 03/16/06 10:28 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
That's the thing, I don't have an ideal job, or ideal "career path." Right now I'm simply hoping to find a job that puts me in a literary atmosphere, i.e. publishing houses, magazines, newspapers.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
That's where you need to be. You're an excellent writer.
|
Tien
人民英雄



Registered: 03/30/05
Posts: 2,382
Loc: Canoodia
|
|
You should invite him for a cup of coffee sometime. Get to know him.
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Tien]
#5407688 - 03/16/06 10:39 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
There's so much free food here at Google, I always want to give some to him when they serve lunch. But he's got no routine, I don't know where to find him when.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: Trav]
#5407693 - 03/16/06 10:41 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
WOrk on any new music lately? If so, post it somewhere.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
|
|
damn I love reading your writing 
very nice man.
|
goobler
Reanimated



Registered: 02/24/03
Posts: 48,909
|
|
next time drop him a C note
|
Trav
Stranger

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 1,826
|
|
I'll post it very soon, I have a lot of new material I've been working on. When I post it, I'll send you the link.
|
OneMoreRobot3021


Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
|
Re: I know a man named Detroit. [Re: goobler]
#5407721 - 03/16/06 10:48 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
|
|
I really hope I find myself in a position to to do that soon. I like the idea of taking him out to coffee one day.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
|
Tien
人民英雄



Registered: 03/30/05
Posts: 2,382
Loc: Canoodia
|
|
You should, its only so often we have the privilege of running into such a unique character.
|
goobler
Reanimated



Registered: 02/24/03
Posts: 48,909
|
|
Done
|
|