walks of life: Jan. 22, 2004 (7:57 pm)

funny how the noisiest parts of the city are the parts where i find myself the most silent; walking and staring between downtown metro stations. sometimes people smile and say 'how's it going?' but keep walking as my surprised voice weakly replies 'fine' into the breeze they leave as they leave the spot where we faced each other. but today there was a hello from a bench and a stop from myself and i asked him if he was a bike courrier. i finally got to ask about bikes with no breaks. he taught me about ball bearings and coaster breaks and how he makes his own breaks everytime he stops. he showed me a chain that belongs on a moped and a too expensive strap. and this sounds like one of those conversations that people have when they just say stuff at each other but he was interested in his bike and it seemed like a nice thing the be interested in. a man dropped a note on the ground and the bike courrier said 'i should have given it back to him' but picked up the piece of litter, read, crumpled and threw it away. i said i had to get going with a smile. an hour later, walking back along k street i looked at every bike i passed for an anonymous looking black one with a moped chain and a too expensive strap and breaks that no one can see.

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