Sunday, November 23, 2003
EGA writes:
I spent the morning volunteering with AIDS Care of Hampshire County: I stood at a table and offered people red ribbons, fliers, and condoms for about two hours. It was, by and large, extremely dull, except as a people-watching opportunity, and it is my opinion that people watching gets old after about half an hour unless you have something else to occupy yourself with. Because today was Bag Day, downtown NoHo was bustling, and apart from AIDS Care there were also several street musicians, a Salvation Army bell-ringer, and some teenage boys collecting donations to build a skate park in Northampton. At one point one of these "sk8r bois" sidled up to our table to shoot the breeze a bit.
"Hey. Do you go to Northampton High School?"
"No, we go to Smith."
"Oh, you're Smithies. Got it. Cuz, like, you look just like my friend from Northampton High School and I just thought I'd ask. So, AIDS, huh?"
"Yup."
"Have you ever heard of prophilaximi-popindextrami- I don't remember what it's called, but it's this cure for AIDS that was developed in the 90s."
"There is no cure for AIDS," said Becca.
"That's cuz the government wouldn't, like, let that information be made public," he explained. "There's this conspiracy- some people think there's a conspiracy where the government won't let this cure be made public cuz they're trying to, like, exterminate certain ethnic groups- you know, like homosexuals or whatever."
Let's all pause for a moment to process that last sentence.
"Where'd you hear that?" I asked.
"It's like, all over the internet."
"Huh."
About 45 minutes later, he came back to chat a bit more. We exchanged some pleasantries and presently he asked whether we had any contact information.
"Sure," said Becca. "You can contact AIDS Care at any of these numbers-"
"No," he said, looking at me. "Like, for you. I thought maybe we could get together and talk some more about this cure for AIDS I was telling you about. Can I have your number?"
"I don't think I have a phone."
I spent the morning volunteering with AIDS Care of Hampshire County: I stood at a table and offered people red ribbons, fliers, and condoms for about two hours. It was, by and large, extremely dull, except as a people-watching opportunity, and it is my opinion that people watching gets old after about half an hour unless you have something else to occupy yourself with. Because today was Bag Day, downtown NoHo was bustling, and apart from AIDS Care there were also several street musicians, a Salvation Army bell-ringer, and some teenage boys collecting donations to build a skate park in Northampton. At one point one of these "sk8r bois" sidled up to our table to shoot the breeze a bit.
"Hey. Do you go to Northampton High School?"
"No, we go to Smith."
"Oh, you're Smithies. Got it. Cuz, like, you look just like my friend from Northampton High School and I just thought I'd ask. So, AIDS, huh?"
"Yup."
"Have you ever heard of prophilaximi-popindextrami- I don't remember what it's called, but it's this cure for AIDS that was developed in the 90s."
"There is no cure for AIDS," said Becca.
"That's cuz the government wouldn't, like, let that information be made public," he explained. "There's this conspiracy- some people think there's a conspiracy where the government won't let this cure be made public cuz they're trying to, like, exterminate certain ethnic groups- you know, like homosexuals or whatever."
Let's all pause for a moment to process that last sentence.
"Where'd you hear that?" I asked.
"It's like, all over the internet."
"Huh."
About 45 minutes later, he came back to chat a bit more. We exchanged some pleasantries and presently he asked whether we had any contact information.
"Sure," said Becca. "You can contact AIDS Care at any of these numbers-"
"No," he said, looking at me. "Like, for you. I thought maybe we could get together and talk some more about this cure for AIDS I was telling you about. Can I have your number?"
"I don't think I have a phone."
// posted by Bill @ 10:37 PM 
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