Silver Jews – Smith & Jones Forever
At 5 a.m. I pulled on my blue trench coat and jammed a cigarette in my mouth. Out in the nippy air I lit it. A homeless guy took advantage of the halt in my stride to bum a smoke; I tossed him the rest of my pack and kept moving. My headphones were in, I wouldn’t have heard his thanks anyways.
Outside the 7/11 a few blocks from my house some of my buzz started to wear off. I smelled like ball juice from not showering, I didn’t have any socks on, and my body felt coated in the guilt that I’d been awake all night. A spandex-clad jogger bounced by, no doubt to head home and gulp down a cup of raw egg whites and a protein shake before work
Inside it’s my usual: some Arazona Southern Style Ice Tea and Green Machine Naked Juice. At the counter I flipped through Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition as the cashier rang me up. I pulled out one earbud, but he doesn’t say anything anyways, just grunts.
Out in front of the QFC a man wanders out and signals that he wants to talk to me. I put down my bag and yank out my earbud.
“Yeah?”
“Is there a QFC this way?”
“I don’t think so. What’s wrong with this QFC?”
“Nothing, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“It’s all residential housing that way.”
“I’m looking for an AM/FM radio. Is there anything this way that would have it?”
“No, head the other way. There’s a 7/11 and a Safeway and then you’ll get to Broadway.”
“Oh the Safeway is that way? I was thinking backwards. Then the other QFC must be beyond that. Thanks.”
“Sure.”
I put my headphones back in; the man grasped the handle to his luggage and wheeled it away.
[Buy American Water.]