I found the following in my notes today:
I love the humanity and short stories of public transportation.
May 13, 2011, today’s new acquaintance: Louis, truck driver, originally from Newark, NJ. Black polo-shirt, day-glo swim trunks, black sneakers, black socks. Mid 50s. Below, summary of friendly chat with Louis on Light Rail between Roosevelt/Central Ave and 24th/Van Buren stops after he asked me whether he needed to swipe his day ticket anywhere on the train. (Answer: No, man, you’re good).
As told by Louis: “Had a layover here in Phx for 12 hrs today. Need to get back to the terminal now to catch my Greyhound bus to LA. Going to pick up my truck there to drive a load to Chicago. Don’t have a home no more in this country, I live in my truck. Everything I got here is in my truck or in storage at Greyhound. It’s just 5 bucks a locker. Spent day downtown wandering around, checking shit out, drinking some wine – need to catch some zzzs on the bus ride over night. Been married 8 times. Yeah, tell me about it. Got 7 kids, oldest is 37, youngest 3 yrs 2 mo. I make 800/wk, that’s take home. I send 700/mo to the Philipines to my new wife. Met her on filipinocupid.com. Must have interviewed like a hundred women. Took me 18 months to find her because I was looking for someone who wanted to stay in the Philipines. You know, 98% of women there only want to come to the US. My monthly wire transfer triples in the Phillipino village where we built a 3-bedroom house. It’s got all the amenties of a Western home in the suburbs. When I married my wife 4 years ago she immediately became the 3rd richest women in her village. My wife is as tall as my nipple, that’s from the floor. Ha! She weighs 78lbs. She’s real tiny, like a 9yr old American girl, but she’s fully matured. She gave us the most beautiful boy you can ever imagine.” He showed me pictures of his house there, his wife, and his youngest son. Ran off the train turned around, smiled, and said: “If I dropped a 100 bucks on my seat, you can keep it.”
Total travel time together – 6 minutes. So much said, so much more to imagine.