A Blog Post Has Always Just Been The Answer To A Question Nobody Had The Opportunity (Or Interest) To Ask

choire:

There is also the other tactic, utilized by my friend Tracy when she was a waitress in Oakland and she’d come home at 2 a.m. with lots of tips: she’d put her purse under her sweater to pretend she was pregnant and then she’d walk down the middle of the street singing really loudly. That works too, on similar/differing principles, just not as well for men.

Actually, I can attest to the efficacy of this tactic, as I use it daily, just not to scare people off. Like Choire learned, while navigating iffy neighborhoods, to arm himself by acting like a junky, I learned long ago that singing at the top of my lungs while walking made me just about impervious to all of the drab people I passed: in high school hallways, while driving on the LIE, or on the streets of New York.

True, it doesn’t invite much interaction, except from other really, really “bright side of life” people (which I suppose I pass for when singing despite EVERYTHING ELSE to the contrary). But I’ll live with the smirks and the street-crossing for the few bemused smiles I get from time to time. And for not being asked for cigarettes, approached by sketchballs, etc.