Who needs soap operas?
I get to ride in with the “guests” staying at the Ramsey County Correctional Facility to Downtown St Paul every morning, cuz I live about one mile up the route from the jail. I ride home with ‘em in the afternoons too, four days a week. I eavesdrop on all kinds of stories about carousing, drinking, drinking & driving, and, inevitably, car accidents and run-ins with Officer Friendly. Check and receipt fraud are also favorite subjects. Bar fights, brawls with family members….who needs soap operas?
Seems like a large majority of folks think it’s “not really fair or my fault” that they ended up in the Workhouse. Who knows? Great stories, tho. Just remember: if you take the 70D, you ain’t going to Sun Ray, baby, you’re going to JAIL!
Feb 26th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for that Johnny! You get an upfront and close encounter with an element of society that most people don’t even care about. And yet, you get a peek into their personal lives and what matters to them. I guess that’s what makes us “ethnographers,” right? I’m going to bet that you have more human feelings for them, as opposed to labeling them. I ride the bus to my college, and we stop at the “Drunk tank,” if you will. I’ve come to identify some of the regulars as “blow and goes;” they get off across the street from the building, go in and “blow” (breath alcohol levels), and are ready and waiting by the time the bus goes through its route and gets to the other side of the street. It always puts a smile on my face to see them because it’s like a regular coffee clutch they have formed on the bus, a source of support and encouragement; an affirmation that they are valued and have worth.