Thursday, June 16, 2011

This Used To Be Normal

3 A.M.


I heard male laughter in between meandering banter, but unlike the party kids who wandered below my window these voice didn't go away. Then the cat thought it was time to play or feed him or do something vertical. That's when I realized there was unusual activity happening on the corner.

The oblong plastic shape at first looked like a body bag, but there was no police tape wrapped around the scene and the cops were way too relaxed. Then a head at the end of the oblong shape popped up and began arguing with the cops. People coming home from the 24 hour grocery store or back from a bar stepped around the trussed up man, trying really hard to be nonchalant, but dying to check out something they heard used to happen this neighborhood all the time years ago, but now only seen on crime drama tv shows.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Possibly it's good that this is not normal anymore.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

My first thought was a body bag, too.

I remember free drama always happening at the Key Food on any given night. Once, a junkie was doing an awesome job of swaying, yet avoiding a store employee who wast trying to corral him into a corner to grab him. He kept flailing his arms near all the tomato sauce jars as little old ladies obliviously wheeled their carts around him. FDNY showed up, but couldn't get the stretcher through the checkstands. Meanwhile, the junkie finally went down, taking out a huge swath of cleaning products with him. No one could get out of the store because firefighters and EMTs were in the way, they couldn't get in to help the junkie, and the store was a mess. I haven't seen anything like that in years.

c.o. moed said...

omg, Goggla .... and what was even more omg was reading it I was like been there done that - it really was sooo normal... brilliant recounting! thank you!