Recent Scenes From the Rose City

A man carrying a Santa Claus bag full of empty cans and bottles over his shoulder eats a vanilla Popsicle in 101-degree heat.

A man with red hair, wearing pink shorts and an orange t-shirt panhandles with a cardboard sign in the median of a busy boulevard.

A man sleeps with his feet up in an abandoned recliner on a street corner.

A man sleeps on piles of bagged manure compost in front of a grocery store.

A man dressed like one of the Ramones plays a Ramones song on a boombox strapped around his shoulder.

A woman argues with a full shopping cart full of shit she’s pushing across a busy intersection. The shopping cart is apparently a real bastard.

A tall man wearing the leather and chain outfit of a bondage master bicycles in 102-degree heat with an attached cart full of shit. Taped to the back of the cart is a sign declaring he needs $80 to make rent. Considering the outfit, need for money and mobility, I took the sign as an advertisement for an impromptu, quickie S&M session to pay the rent.