HEY CHINO!

He had a white loony to his right, I had the "most dangerous man in North Beach" to my left. The white loony kept staring at us with distrust, the most dangerous man was clearly stoned out of his mind, and kept giggling in that irritating way that he has. Over at the karaoke machine a young woman was singing in Mandarin, not very badly, and four Cantonese gentlemen near the door played liar's dice.
So if you actually think about it, the place is thankfully back to normal.
Calmer than when the mainlanders infested it 3 weeks ago.
Also much calmer than when the owner is there.

Earlier on Grant Avenue I had smoked my pipe while waiting for the bookseller. While there, an "artistic" guitar player strolled past accompanying a raggedy man with a bum leg, and a deranged person sounding exactly like Linda Blair in the exorcist screamed in fury at intervals from an alleyway further down the street. The actual number of dysfunctionals in North Beach was lower than usual, but the few made up with their high level for the many who were missing.

Her angry vocalizing was audible from 2 blocks away.
Lung power, world-hate, and conviction.


"Dear mother and father, I have landed in the New World, and I dare not drink the water. It's bad enough that I have to breathe the air, I am certain that it's filled with a poisonous miasma that makes people insane. There are screaming women on the streets, and the smell of marijuana is everywhere too. The food consists mostly of potatoes, lard, and beef tallow; everyone smells of it.
Love you, miss the hometown.
Regards."


Later, while outside the karaoke joint enjoying a cigarillo, a Mexican dude rolled up and asked for a cigarette. The elderly pilgrim also having a smoke and I both denied having any. Then he wanted to know if we had marijuana, and was quite put out when we snapped 'no'. After thinking for a bit, he finally asked "hey Chino, got a dollar?"

Which yielded nothing also.

Who the hell addresses the person they are importuning with "hey Chino"?

Especially if they know all the words in English for every other dingbat request they made? I went back inside to finish my hot water. The bookseller sipped his second whisky. The white loony looked daggers at us. The Mandarin speaker sang a song that went on forever.


We left just as the loony began singing. As a general rule of thumb, Caucasians should neither do karaoke themselves nor encourage their friends to do so.
Ego and a lack of taste or talent do not combine well with alcohol.




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