The location of my work is near several live music venues, with one of them large enough to get moderately famous acts able to have a painted truck and a fancy tour bus. Sometimes when walking to work from the train I see the various tour buses and vans that make up the gypsy train that is modern music touring. Once in awhile, when I am on recess duty in the park across the street from my school, a van with a tow-trailer will pull up and park and out will tumble a pack of grungy musician-looking people. I once saw someone brushing his teeth right there at the edge of the park.I'm guessing I will always remember that guy brushing his teeth. As I believe I've mentioned before, back in the day I wanted to be one of those modern-day minstrels. I knew I wasn't good enough to actually be a band member, but I had hopes of moving equipment in fifty different states and around the world. In my current life, the roadie lifestyle is my idea of hell. Charles Cross's Heavier Than Heaven painted a very clear picture of life on the road: selling enough t-shirts to get to the next town, choosing between food and gas, sleeping in horrible motels and no time to yourself. The kind of things that would make brushing your teeth at a city park in the middle of the day an entirely normal act.
Though I will never experience that lifestyle, I love that I wander by it during my daily routine.
Great post, P! I feel like the image on that bus looks like a vintage late 80's Micheal Jackson. Interesting! -S
ReplyDeleteWhen Val and I lived in the van for a year, driving around the country, I sometimes brushed my teeth by the side of residential roads. It was a very skulky feeling. I tried to find an unobtrusive place to spit and then would dilute the toothpaste residue with water and skedaddle. Probably gave the neighborhood dogs an interesting sniff, anyway.
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