Loitering with Intent
People come here for all kinds of reasons. Some just want to stand in the sun, feel it on their face, stop the world for a moment. Some will bring a book, lean against the wall and read. Many people come for the sign itself of course, their desire to touch it. I suppose they hope it has some kind of magic that will rub off and carry them a little way downstream. Occasionally a person will reach up and pat the sign, as if offering it comfort—it probably does look rather lonely up there against that big expanse of rough wall, like a single star in a very black night sky. Once I saw an old woman pushing a shopping cart stop below the sign, unload the cart, then settle down beside her possessions and nap—for people who don’t have a home the sign must generate a kind of welcoming sensation: somebody cares enough to tell them what not to do. I saw a boy and girl neck beneath the sign. It was dusk on one of those beautiful, warm early spring evenings that seem to promise everything. The boy and girl approached each other from opposite sides of the sign, as if this were their special rendezvous spot, a plan worked out late at night in their separate bedrooms over the phone. They came toward each other slowly, timing their steps to put them just below the sign when they came together, then they very slowly collapsed into each other’s arms and kissed. One time there was a fire in a nearby shop and the street was suddenly filled with fire trucks and police cars. After the excitement passed, a fireman leaned against the wall beneath the sign and smoked a cigarette. Probably the oddest thing I’ve seen was on New Year’s Eve. It was shortly before midnight when this very large man in a clown suit came up and collapsed near the sign. A few minutes later, a man and woman dressed in formal evening attire came along—swirling, dancing, laughing—then drew up when they saw the collapsed clown. The man leaned over to see if the clown was still alive. When they were certain he was just passed out, the couple started dancing again. Even though the street was quiet and empty, I thought I heard music coming from somewhere; it was an old-fashioned big band tune. Benny Goodman or Guy Lombardo, something like that. The two people in their beautiful clothes held each other in a perfect embrace and danced for what seemed like hours. Then the clown awoke. He sat up, looked around, saw the couple dancing and started to applaud. He had one of those sad clown faces painted on, but you could see he was really smiling. The man and woman stopped dancing and bowed. They bowed once, twice, then they held each other for a long moment and kissed. Then they bowed and kissed some more. You could tell they were smiling, too. The clown kept on applauding, right into the new year.