The word from the street
I had this discussion with Tony earlier this year:
PHILIP
“If you could do any job in the world, what would you want to do?”
TONY
“Oh that’s easy, I’d be a limo driver.”
PHILIP
“But you were a limo driver, weren’t you?”
TONY
“Well, my life wasn’t always this bad, you know.”
This snippet is from March 2009:
PHILIP
“What job would you want to do if you could choose anything?”
TONY
“That’s a fireman.”
PHILIP
“A fireman? Why’s that?”
TONY
“It just feels good to rescue someone. And you know that those ladies love their firemen. That’s gotta be the best part, if you know what I mean.”
TONY
“I got myself a job for Sunday.”
PHILIP
“Great! What is it?”
TONY
“Well, it’s two hours looking after the corner store. The owner can’t be there and folks keep swiping her flowers plants. I told her it was no problem since I was going to be there anyway. She didn’t even have to pay me since it’s the neighbourhood, if you know what I mean. But I know she’ll give me something anyway.”
TONY
“You hear about the old guy who got jumped down Ronces earlier?”
PHILIP
“What happened?”
TONY
“I don’t know but next thing you know, there’s six cop cars right there. You can say what you want about our cops but they sure can do their job when they need to.”
TONY
“I got myself another ticket last night. I was in the park over at Sorauren and since I hadn’t slept in two nights I fell asleep and the next thing I know someone’s shaking my shoulder and it’s a cop. He even knows my name and he tells me the woman in one of the apartments was complaining about the noise which I guess she meant that I must have been snoring or something. The junior guy tells me she’s a real complainer but they had to give me a ticket anyway. I made sure they understood that they were just doing their jobs as far as I was concerned. I made sure the sergeant heard it too.”
PHILIP
“You’re amazing.”
PHILIP
“When are you going to Vancouver?”
TONY
“Well I’ve got to make some money first. The bus is pretty expensive, but I think it’s less expensive than the plane.
“Anyway, my nephew says he can get some work for me so I can make some extra money for the trip.”
PHILIP
“So when are you going?”
TONY
“Depends. I’ve got to get the money first. But I can tell you I need a holiday — haven’t had one in ten years. Plus I’ve never seen the ocean.”
PHILIP
“Never in your whole life?”
TONY
“Nope. Never have; always wanted to. This is my chance; I’ve gotta do it.”
TONY
“I think it’s time for a holiday for me.”
PHILIP
“I’ve never heard you say that before … where are you going?”
TONY
“I’m gonna go out to Vancouver. I’ve got a friend and he’s going out there for a job with a bus line. He figures I could get some work there with him too. Anyway, I haven’t had a holiday in a while.”
TONY
“See Milton over there? Now there’s a guy who knows how to do a job. I’m always am telling him how he’s keeping Ronces cleaner than a whistle. If I knew his boss, I’d tell him the same.”
TONY
“Check out my new jacket with a royal colour?”
PHILIP
“Where from?”
TONY
“I was working a the car wash on Dundas, you know the one just up there and I was drying cars. So the supervisor gave it to me. Pretty good, eh?”
Homeless Man Speaks 