Valencia Street terror alert
Jul. 14th, 2004 05:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gordonzolaI was walking down Valencia St. on Sunday. A man got out of his SUV and power walked down the street in front of me. He had a tight office-plaid shirt on, definitely not cowboy-plaid or retro-grunge-plaid shirt. It was buttoned to the top despite the rare, hot San Francisco day. I remember it was hot because I was going to a housewarming party where I wouldn’t know anyone and I was self-conscious about my own sweat stains. The fact that he drove an SUV has nothing to do with this anecdote.
He stopped for the red light at the corner in front of the pet food hair salon. He looked hurried and uncomfortable. He didn’t like waiting for the green but he didn’t seem torn by his wait, just annoyed. I know I don’t really know what he was thinking. But he didn’t tap his fingers on his belt or swivel his head seeing if the other light was yellow yet. No cars were coming.
A bike messenger dude approached the light. He didn’t have a bike, but his clothes were faded and worn like a messenger, not a hipster. And he had a Zo bag. He had to push past Mr. Plaid ever so slightly to jaywalk and as he did he gave him some advice.
"If you stop for red lights, the terrorists have already won."
Now, here’s the question: are we tired of this punch line yet?
He stopped for the red light at the corner in front of the pet food hair salon. He looked hurried and uncomfortable. He didn’t like waiting for the green but he didn’t seem torn by his wait, just annoyed. I know I don’t really know what he was thinking. But he didn’t tap his fingers on his belt or swivel his head seeing if the other light was yellow yet. No cars were coming.
A bike messenger dude approached the light. He didn’t have a bike, but his clothes were faded and worn like a messenger, not a hipster. And he had a Zo bag. He had to push past Mr. Plaid ever so slightly to jaywalk and as he did he gave him some advice.
"If you stop for red lights, the terrorists have already won."
Now, here’s the question: are we tired of this punch line yet?
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 07:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:09 pm (UTC)Because it had to be done
Date: 2004-07-14 07:51 am (UTC)Re: Because it had to be done
Date: 2004-07-14 07:55 am (UTC)That's just fine
Date: 2004-07-14 09:10 am (UTC)Re: Because it had to be done
Date: 2004-07-14 11:00 am (UTC)Re: Because it had to be done
Date: 2004-07-14 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 07:54 am (UTC)Sidebar: I saw a hipster wearing a Zo bag while disembarking from the Caltrain bicycle car last week. I nearly cried. Not only that, but he did what most hipster bicycle commuters I see do -- put in the earbuds for his iPod, lit up a cigarette, and bicycled off with neither helmet nor awareness.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 08:33 pm (UTC)Or maybe it's just sort of "I move, yet still I lounge". I kinda like that one.
Still -- I used to smoke, and there's no way I could outrun a reckless MUNI bus on bike when I did, something which is a valuable survival skill now.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 09:20 am (UTC)You have to realize that there's an "Event Horizon" (i think thats the term) with jokes like this. First they're funny, then they start to get old. But then, as the probability of actual good jokes being made approaches zero, suddenly it becomes funny again.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 10:04 am (UTC)In that case, Garrison Keilor's penguin/tuxedo joke is most definitely a full-fledged singularity!
So, two penguins are sitting on an ice floe...
that one im not so sure of...
Date: 2004-07-14 10:19 am (UTC)Re: that one im not so sure of...
Date: 2004-07-14 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 09:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 11:41 am (UTC)(but I do think the terrorists have won thing is still funny)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 11:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:13 pm (UTC)this all depends...
Date: 2004-07-14 04:09 pm (UTC)Re: this all depends...
Date: 2004-07-14 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 05:21 pm (UTC)Tired
Date: 2004-07-15 01:37 am (UTC)It's very liberating living in an alingual city.