18 1/2 hours
my work sometimes takes me into strange and sketchy parts of vancouver. on occassion the city insists on bringing forth the bizarre.
it was a long day, eighteen and a half hours in total. after fifteen or so hours of hard work one begins to get a bit spotty, exhausted and peaking out on all sorts of weird chemicals. the universe likes to pile the absurd on you when you least need it.
throughout the evening we graciously obliged various requests to provide tourist-guide type information to those from out of town/country. hot requests for the evening include the cambie pub (always excellent) and stanley park (at this hour??). then the evening began to mess with us.
11 pm - a man patrols his turf with a 2x4. this is not all that uncommon, and i hardly blame the fellow. it is, nonetheless, unnerving to have someone stroll by you with a deadly piece of wood and then strike up lively chit-chat. as i always say, crazies and junkies are nicest folks you'll meet. tourists and business-folk are the vicous and dangerous kind.
12 am - the dutch girls, as they are now known, insist upon taking their picture with the two of us. the few words they passed with us indicated they were celebrating some demented version of christmas. of course we obliged their peculiar request with grins and feliz navidads. charming.
1 am - we are videotaped. i figure i exist in several thousand photos and videos around the world - my daily commute home includes a walk by the dreadful steam-clock in gastown. until this point i haven't felt so put on the spot.
2 am - a young couple fucks with vigour on the park bench across from us. they are oblivious to our yells and the passing motorists. she begins by hiking up her skirt and taking it from behind. then she rides him across the bench. again, most peculiar. after completing they begin berating us. most foul. yet somehow amusing and memorable.
3 am - the work day comes to a close and we go home, weary and wasted. goodnight burrard and pender.