The Corner

Tucked with the city of Vancouver is a quaint little corner that gives you a slice of the city. It is the corner of Denman and Barclay--close to the beach, close to Robson, in the heart of the west end and on the cusp of the gaybourhood. The corner has become mine, for its sheer entertainment value. Tucked on the side is a cafe where I sit and contemplate, sit and read, do some work on my laptop, and smoke a good chunk of time away.

The outdoor patio at the cafe is usually lined with specatators sipping coffee and absorbing the spring sun, all watching the commotion of the city and its residents. As one fellow coffee-sipping observer noted, "this corner is full of drama, drama in which you are not involved." And I wholeheartedly agree.

So there I was today, at my corner watching the sights, sniffing the smells and hearing the beat of the city. The first thing that caught my attention was the sound of wagon wheels being dragged down the street. Okay, okay, so you hear this sound and think a kid is pulling it along, or an adult at the helm with a kid inside who is too lazy to walk...but as soon as I looked up, my laughter got the best of me and came pouring out of my mouth. More like gaffaws really, but in the plastic fisherprice wagon was an incredibly overweight bull dog being pulled by its master. Definately a different take on going for a walk. I wondered where the owner was going and if the dog ever got out of his chauffer pulled wagon or prefered to cruise and take in the sights.

I sipped more coffee, lit another smoke and continued to watch.

And then out of the corner of my eye, I saw the kamikaze blind man. I have seen him before and hence bestowed the name upon him from his previous actions. The man, lets say is full of joie de vie and storms down the streets without a care in the world. It is like he throws caution to the wind, and says, "watch out world, I can't see" and makes his way at top speed down the streets. In my previous sightings, he has clipped street lamps, parking signs, sides of cars crossing the streets and my favourite, although I am sure not his, is when he walked straight into a fire hydrant which was about the same height as his you know what. I muffled my laugh, cause since he is blind, figured his sense of hearing would be much keener. But there he was today crossing the street to my corner, and I sat up straighter cause I knew I would be in for some sick delight. And he didn't let me down.

He crossed the street to the sound of the 'beep beep' walking at a moch-like clip swinging his cane. First was a nicely placed hit to a knee of a Japanese girl, and then right through the legs mid-stride of a man. They got tangled and the man couldn't get away fast enough before the blind guy bumped him again. They stumbled, exchanged some words and then the door to the bank was opened for him. He bumped his way into the bank, and thank god for big windows, I saw him crash into the metal line markers inside the bank. I giggled and waited for him to exit the bank.

He left the bank unscathed and the other pedestrians untouched and he waited at the crosswalk to cross. The light turned and he was off. Across the street were two people pushing their bikes. They were perfectly lined up for the cane to get stuck in the spokes and i waited and watched and the sick side of me hoped. But the cyclist caught sight of the blindman coming and quickly manuevered out the way. Damn. But then there was a couple with their back to the man blocking the sidewalk, and again I waited. Bam, he got them. They turned around, ready to say, I am sure "what the fuck", but once they saw the stick one jumped left and the other scurried right. I could see the couple look at each other in disbelief as he plowed his way through the sidewalk and more people. Of course I giggled the whole time and wondered how on earth someone like him gets by in life. I wondered if he had ever been taught to use his cane properly or if he is self-taught.

Between my laughs, and snickers I took pity on the man, and then it shifted to admiration. I loved the fact that he doesn't give a damn and goes on his merry way. I loved the fact that he just says "screw it" and hits, bumps, and crashes his way through the city and I am sure life. Kudos to you Kamekazi blind man - you rock!