Thursday, August 27, 2009

Interesting People: The Hustler

Post Dated: June 6th, 2009


I got a new job... and that’s why I’ve been so lax on the updates. It’s tiring, because I’m walking around all day. But it’s cool at the same time, because I get to meet a lot of people in places I’d never have gone before. This week I was in the high hills of Echo Park. And I’m just gonna list a few of the characters I met there (In the future I’ll ask if I can take a picture of them maybe?):
The Hustler - He is a 54-year-old ex-con. I met him in a driveway and we quickly got to talking about the environment. He told me stories about his past... his lost wife, and his cancer. So here goes: It seems that after he got out of jail for what I can only assume was a long con gone wrong (lol) he and his woman must have joined some branch of Green Peace  (perhaps not, he didn’t go into detail) and they went to Iraq. Wile there his wife found a strange, colorful rock. She picked it up and showed it to him. He noticed it was glowing and quickly took it from her and tossed it away. It turns out the thing was actually the time of an anti-tank nuclear device and the radiation from holding it for only a couple seconds played havoc with both of their systems. They both came up with cancer and she died only two years ago. So he sits in his car thinking about life pulling out of his driveway and then back in again... While I can’t be sure how much of his tale was true (being that he was a professional can-man) it felt like he was at a point in his life where he didn’t want to lie anymore and he wanted to release all of his woes.
You can decide what you think... but what I pulled from the experience is that my job (going door to door promoting support for the environment) may actually help people in the long run. Now I wasn’t sure about it at first, but when you find the right door to knock on and people welcome your message with open arms, very little in life feels more contenting than knowing you all agree and believe in a better future.

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