Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Today, on my walk home from phototherapy, someone driving a blue Chevrolet Cobalt SS yelled at me from their open window. I had headphones in place, and so missed whatever sparkling witticism was being shouted in my direction, but I can only assume that it was prompted by my making them slow down slightly because my path crossed theirs at an intersection. 

I am intensely curious as to what the shout may have been. Was it a slur, racial or otherwise (I am disinclined to the racial angle, as I am Caucasian and live in Saskatoon – racism usually flows the other way around here)? Was it a compliment? It could have been, and it wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve had something nice yelled at me from a car. Was it nonsensical? I had a friend who liked to yell “canoe” at people, because it confused them. It could have been a catcall, but I don’t think my outfit was conducive to cat-calling, and, as a man, cat-calls are infrequently made (though it has happened once or twice). All possibilities, all lost to time and swathed in mystery for eternity. I didn’t get a look at the driver, the car and the shout both having passed behind me as I walked across the street.