His red sweatshirt stood out against the faded old brick siding and the dark colors of the other's winter coats. He had a dirty green backpack slung over his shoulders, the seams straining to keep the items inside. His arms were loaded with books. Text books I knew even though I was too far away to read the spines. A cigarette stood straight out between his clenched teeth and smoke escaped in thin streams out of the side of his mouth. His eyes were focused on the sidewalk just in front of his feet. I stared at him openly without any fear of being noticed.
I was caught by the sight of him. Somehow, he seemed out of context. He didn't fit in with the images I had conjured up of college. But he was there. As real as my own flesh and confusion. Why was he there and why was I bothered by the sight of him? What was it that he was taking away from my experience? We passed on the sidewalk. He unaware of my presence and me obsessed with the sight of him.
It's been 3 weeks and his presence still haunts me even though I haven't seen him since. I don't have any answers as to why. I need to see him framed against the building again. I need the opportunity to study him. I've begun to think about how to make that happen.
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This is really interesting and shows the differences in our life experiences. Even without the works"text books" I pictures a college Student.
ReplyDeleteSo What are you visions of College?
That use to be it, but as I have aged, I see different things when I walk onto college campuses. Nobody smokes, few seem to carry much with them, they are all young kids standing in their little cliques, and they dress the same. When I saw this particular person, he really didn't fit in with his surroundings.... at least not with that I was seeing at that moment. I still don't really know why his presence spoke as loud as it did.
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