Wait a sec - is that a knife?

So here’s what went down.  Last weekend I decided to use the light rail for the first time.  I was in downtown Phoenix and thought this would be fun.  You know - help the environment and all that.  

So, I’m trying to get a ticket from the kiosk, and the whole while, in my peripheral vision, I see a guy leaning against a post in kind of fatigues with a ski mask over his head and face.   It’s not ski mask weather.  I take note of this.  The best I can tell, there’s  no place he could hiding a major weapon.  But still, come on, this is a bit sketch. 

The kiosk won’t take my credit card.  Then it won’t take my debit card.  Then it won’t take my cash.  And the whole while there’s a guy in a mask leaning against a post - this is a bit sketch.  

On the platform are two other guys -- one in his early forties and another in his late twenties maybe, and they are like an unlikely pair - but seem to be connected somehow.  I approach them and ask if they know how to get the kiosk to work. This ride costs two dollars and I gotta pay my two dollars. 

And remember, a guy in a mask is still leaning against a post - this is  a bit sketch. 

The older guy says, “garble, garble, garble.”  To which I reply, “huh?”  “Garble, garble, garble.” he repeats in his quiet bass voice.  “I’m so sorry, I’m not hearing you well,” I say, and then a teenie bit louder he says, “You’re fine. It’s the weekend.  No one will check.”  

Hm.  “Well, I’m supposed to pay,” I think.  I was raised to pay.  What would my grandmother in the afterlife  say if I didn’t pay?  And all the while, I continue to notice that there’s a guy in a mask leaning against a post -  this is a bit sketch. 

Then  my new 40 year old buddy says, “Garble, garble, jewelry, garble.”  “Huh?” I reply while trying to figure out how to get home while not “stealing” my ride on the light rail.   In that teenie bit louder than a whisper voice he repeats, “You look like garble who’s in the market for garble upscale jewelry.”  

I burst out laughing.  

Mostly because I am so much not his target market that I don’t even have any jewelry on, but also because I’m pretty sure this jewelry of which he speaks would have likely fallen off of an upscale jewelry truck somewhere.  

I pleasantly say, “Nope.”  Then show him him that I don’t have a speck of jewelry on me and he and his buddy then comment that I don’t even have pierced ears, and we’re having some kind of lighthearted exchange about this, which I don’t exactly recall, because I’m noticing still that there’s a guy in a mask leaning against a post - this is a bit sketch. 

My new  buddy  then says, “Do you smoke weed?” No garble this time.  This guy’s a good salesman and seems to be moving on to another product that he might be able to help me procure.  “Nope,” I say.  “But it’s legal,” he says. “Oh, I know, but just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.” And then he extends his sales pitch to include all of the benefits of said weed and still there’s a guy in a mask leaning against a post - this is  a bit sketch. 

I then talk with the younger guy about how I grew up around a lot of drugs and drinking and how hard  that was as a kid …. etc….  and we’re actually having a pretty good moment but I’m also looking over his shoulder at the guy in a mask leaning against a post - this is a bit sketch. 

Then my new 40 year old buddy -- still a bit garbly -- begins to comment on  the guy in the mask.  “That’s bleeped up! What the bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.” And I’m somewhat nodding in agreement while also really trying to figure out how to get the ticket to ride on the light rail.  My buddy’s getting more and more agitated about the guy in the mask, so I decide to wander back down the platform.  You know - I can check out the kiosk again and obviously get some distance here. 

As I’m walking, behind my back I hear an exchange that is becoming pretty escalated between the 40 year old and the guy in the mask which is basically, 

“Take off that mask, you something or other!” 

“You can’t tell me what to do” 

“Yes I can”

“No you can’t

Obviously I’m cleaning up the exchange here for our more sensitive readers.  There is bandying around:

Guy in the mask:  I could shoot you!

40 year old guy:  No you won’t - you might knife me but you ain’t got no gun! 

And back and forth and back and forth. 

And as I’m walking away from them I can’t help but to visualize this as the same scenario that happens so often with the children with whom we work who, on the playground,  are tossing threats back and forth and posturing.   But these are grown men.  This is not a civil exchange.  From this distance I’m at,  it’s almost laughable.  But then I reach the kiosk and turn around. 

Wait! Is that a knife?

The guy with the mask is no longer wearing his mask.  And he looks, quite frankly, not at all intimidating.  He just looks like a normal guy waiting for the light rail.  But I think I see that my buddy has a knife. I think he’s pulled a knife and the now non-masked guy is backing away - still yelling threats - but backing away.  Then my buddy and the younger guy are also moving away - still yelling treats - but backing up.  Things settle a bit, and my buddy then hands the knife to the younger guy who puts it in his bag.  Then they move behind a pillar where  I can’t see them. 

And now finally - of course - the light rail is coming and I still don’t have a stupid ticket. 

So I move back onto the platform -  I walk past the now non-masked guy who is slowly  pacing back and forth but really not at all intimidating and threatening.  And then my buddy and his friend come from behind the pillar and are entering the train where I am.  My buddy looks me in the eye and says with no garble, “Sorry you had to see that.”  My interpretation is “Sorry if I scared you, little old lady.”   Then over my shoulder he yells more threats at the now non-masked guy, and I softly say, “Dude, seriously, stop poking the bear?”  And he says, “That ain’t no bear - that’s a garble.”  My interpretation is, “You don’t get it granny.  That’s how it goes.”  And he smiles at me and he and his buddy go sit down.

So why in the world would I put this in an Everybody Matters blog? Well, mostly because I’ve been trying to unpack this all week.  There was so much happening here socially and emotionally.  Lots of assumptions being made.  Good interactions and bad interactions. People in survival mode.  Threats and posturing and also kindness and backing down.  It’s the full meal deal!  And ultimately, how great it would be if we all could use our coping skills when we’re stressed.  If we all could be civil and assume the best of each other.  If we all were economically stable so we didn’t have to try to bedazzle jewelry-free old ladies.  But that’s not the case right now.  Not yet. 

But someday, yes. I choose that,  someday, yes. 

And yeah, yeah, I know -  I still owe the city of Phoenix two dollars. 

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