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[3/2/10; 4/26/10]

"Yo, is that mask for the swine flu?"

"Yeah, I'm protecting myself, man."

"You're protecting me, dude. You're the one that's sick!"

"What are you, a photographer?"

"A writer. I'm a writer."

"You should take wedding photos, man. They make lots of money."

"Nah, I'm not good enough."

"Sure you are." He showed me a photo. "That's my brother and his kid."

"And what's that?"

"That's my prom photo, man. She's Spanish."

"You still talk to her? Where is she now?"

"Yeah, I still talk to her. She's back in Brooklyn." He also had a license plate with "Brooklyn" on it.

"Hey, let's go get two tall cans. I'll buy."

"No, man, I gotta to go to work."

"It's almost five o' clock! You ain't working."

"Yes, I am. I work from 5 to 9."

"What do you do?"

"I do everything, man. I flip stuff. I change condoms."

"Bullshit!"

I have no idea why he said "I change condoms." I don't think I imagined it. Later, I heard some 50-ish black guy said, "You got some skinny legs, girl, just like what the cat brought in. Nothing wrong with that."





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