Playing Homeless
I have seen a great many strange sights connected to the New American Diaspora. Many of them are utterly inexplicable and can't easily be explained away as the result of mental illness or drug abuse or both in combination.
Not too long ago, on an overcast Sunday afternoon, I observed perhaps the strangest sight of all and really have no explanation for it. Indeed, I'm not sure what it was I actually saw.
I was walking to pick up a pizza and turning a corner when across the street on a sidewalk in front of a yogurt shop and dive bar, I saw two long-haired girls, approximately 10-12 years old, dressed in plaid pajama bottoms, over-sized hoodies and dirty tennis shoes. They were laughing and horsing around, making weird sounds and talking to the sky. One of them was pulling a red toy wagon full of returnable cans and bottles. The other had a phone in some sort of use.
What the hell? I watched them for a few seconds in total bewilderment. What were they doing? I ran through a few scenarios and none of them made sense. I figured they were from the neighborhood, one of the more affluent ones in Portland.
They moved down the sidewalk and I continued on my way.
A few minutes later I was carrying my pizza and I saw the girls again, across the street, in the parking lot of a convenience store. They were behaving in the same bizarre manner as before. I watched them for a few seconds and then it hit me like a shotgun spread to the face: they were playing! They were playing at being homeless!
Kids play as cops and robbers, dragons, fairies, superheroes, animated Disney characters, you name it. They dress up and carry props. In my youth I killed a lot of Germans and Indians. I used butter knives as bayonets.
These girls were playing at being homeless. There was no other possible reason for their actions. They were acting out what they see on a daily basis in their neighborhood and hamming it up to the hilt, which is what you do when you play pretend. I won a lot of Medal of Honor awards in combat.
They were also filming it for various social media platforms for all their world to see.
I almost broke out laughing at the absurdist unconscious performance art aspect of this. Then I plunged into a deep depression. My normal route to home would take me right past them. I went a different way.