Wednesday, April 26, 2006
White noise.........
I stopped by the cart for a talk with Hot Dog Man yesterday. The back ground noise at dog cart central (corner of King and George streets) was punctuated every half second by the pounding of a pile driver working on the foundation of the new student dormitory being built on George and St. Phillips a few hundred yards away.
"Hey, Hot Dog Man, bet you've gotten use to hearing that pile driver. Bet it's just white noise to you?"
"Yeah, don't even hear that sucker anymore."
"When I lived in Tuscaloosa there was a railroad nearby, and the sound of trains in the night became a real comfort after a time. Know what I mean?"
"Look, Pedicab Gramp, I have the same thing in my neighborhood here in Charleston. In the night I hear gunshots, bang bang bang and then a voice holler out, 'You better get out of here mother fucker.' It gives me real comfort to know everything is normal, and I can roll over and go back to sleep."
