a day in society.

as jen and i walk around chinatown, a man approaches with an armful of faux-news "the onion" papers. handing us a copy, no thank you i say with a smile. jen and i continue walking while the man follows us and asks me if i have ever heard of the mission he is involved with, taking out a small wallet with a black and white xerox underneath clear vinyl to let me read the name of the mission. i lie and say i do not, moreso for the sake of time and the interrupted conversation jen and i were originally having.

through droopy eyelids and yellow broken teeth, the man begins a slurred, matter-of-fact speech about when the mission was founded and how the mayor has planned to redevelop the site to build condominiums, making it sound more like the mission was being taken over, instead of refurbished and renewed, as the mission's own website promotes proudly and energetically. handing us a copy of the onion once more, the man asks for donations, and again i say no thank you with a smile. jen and i reach the end of the walkway we were on and look around for a coffeshop, with the man still by our side. c'mon, the man continues, why you gotta' be like that, even before i started talking you... the man trails off.

it's the onion, i say simply, deciding not to tell the man that he had originally handed us a copy of the paper without saying a word, that i was not interested in any faux-news, found free around the city in news kiosks, nor that jen and i had not seen each other in five years, so we were a little busy catching up. talking into my face, forcing me to gaze into his distant droopy eyes and stained teeth, you know, the man begins, you people, your kind, are all the same... chinese, japanese, korean, mexican, and um... the man thinks for a moment, puerto ricans, you are all the same. y'all are cheap!

you're high, i reply calmly, looking the man directly in his spaced-out face. how you gonna say that? the man asks as jen and i turn to return back where we came. i can see it in your face, i say calmly as jen and i walk away. you fag! the man yells at our turned backs, this time not following and instead continuing to slur out obsenities, which i do not catch.

as i prepare to board the bus that would take me back to my neighborhood, two young men and one young woman exit the back of the bus as i and a group of other strangers queue to get on. one of the young men, in mid loud-conversation with his two friends, sees two young caucasian women boarding a few steps ahead of me, and instantly erupts into a series of insults and jeers. muddled with obscene adjectives, look at those white pastey asses! the man yells at the strangers while his two friends laugh. damn flat-ass white asses! the man yells while laughing and walking past. rounding the front of the bus to cross the street, the man squeezes in one last offense, flatty pastey-ass! before the female friend he is with says ok, just stop already.

the bus arrives at my stop, and i step off, strolling through the neighborhood to my apartment. the rain has stopped and despite the gray and cloudy sky, the sun is still unusually bright, causing me to furrow my brows, probably looking more serious than nonchalant. the air is cold, but not brisk, and i take in the architecture and bare trees along the street while i walk, as i usually do. through the park and past the tennis courts, where people are playing ball with their dogs, i pass an elderly lady with white hair, walking her poofy pomeranian. as we make eye contact, i nod, to which she replies hello most graciously with a smile. hello, i reply back, smiling.

it is absurd to divide people into good and bad. people are either charming or tedious.
: wilde.