Statue of a man very excited to point out his favorite tree to a young boy.

Here are some notes I made about the various people I met while loitering outside The W Downtown Atlanta.

Johnny Ray

Don't forget Johnny Ray, the crazy fellow who sprayed spittle when he talked and pulled out a knife. He wasn't threatening at all. Just wanted me to buy him a cold beer for his birthday. He showed me his ID to prove it was his birthday. I gave him a smoke, and asked him to put away his blade, instead.

The Lady

There was the lady, didn't get her name, but she liked basketball, well… basketball players. She was into the cute ones. Said the Hawks were not good looking. Didn't know who the Hornets were, and I wasn't able to tell her if they were cute or not. She liked menthols. Only took two puffs off the Spirit I gave her. I wasn't offended and told her so.

EJ

EJ was waiting for his girl to pick him up. She was at the club. He doesn't like clubs. Couldn't figure out what he did for work, but he thought Atlanta had gotten crazy with money. He wondered where it was at, and how he could get some. He loved muscle cars. He recently wrecked his Dodge, that's why he was waiting for a ride. His next car is gonna be a Grand Prix. He wanted to be in music. Said his granddaddy was a Temptation. Maybe true? No reason not to believe him. He was trying to smoke a broken cigarette, just needed a light. I gave him an American Spirit. He didn't complain.

Greg

Then, Greg. He installed those yellow poles you see in parking lots. Said it payed good and gave benefits. $18/hr. They didn't buy his lunch like they did when he was a professional mover. He'd done a lot of physical work. First job was moving for his mom's friend's company when he was 13. He'd been a roofer, brick mason, and stone mason. Skilled, hardworking fellow. I liked Greg a lot.