15 Minutes on Spring Garden Road
posted: Jul 4, 12:48 AM
I don’t know if this post is funny or sad. I was on Spring Garden Road, in Halifax, this afternoon and a young woman and her dog caught my attention.
In the event you don’t know the city, Spring Garden is a trendy, downtown street, with lots of boutiques, restaurants and good people watching opportunities. This was my little bit of tourist “info” in case you decide to visit. So, anyway…
I’m waiting for someone and people watching while I wait. My attention is drawn by a young woman, and her sound asleep dog, who is pan handling. She’s sitting on the sidewalk asking “Do you have any change?” or “Can I have a smoke?”. The question depends on whether a smoker or non-smoker passes her. The average passer by doesn’t even acknowledge she has spoken.
An older man, who is also pan handling walks by and stops to say “hello” to her. They speak briefly and he moves on.
She gets a smoke from a guy who’s smoking as he walks down the street. He stops to talk with her for a bit. She continues to ask for change as they talk. The guy leaves and she goes on with her spiel.
I lose interest, it’s getting boring, and begin monitoring the police presence on the opposite side of the street. I’m beginning to think I need to venture downtown more frequently, life is fairly entertaining in Halifax’s priciest shopping district. Anyway, they’ve pulled over a cabbie for something, it looks pretty tame, so I check out the young woman and her still snoring dog.
She has company. The older man who had stopped to talk to her about five minutes earlier is back, but now he’s asking for change within 5 or 6 feet of her spot. I’m intrigued ‘cause I thought there was some protocol to pan handling, as in, I’ve got my spot and you’ve got yours.
Apparently, I am not alone in thinking manners are involved. The young woman says to the man “What are you doing? You know this is my spot.” (Or words to this effect). He responds along the lines of “ I’m not in your way.”
She’s looking more and more cranky (and, by the way, her pit bull is still asleep) and states “It’s a matter of manners. This is my space and you’re showing really bad manners.”
Now, I may not be quoting her verbatim, in fact, I’m sure I’m not, but what’s really interesting to me is this. She had tats and piercings all over, and yet, contrary to what might have been expected she was quiet, polite, well spoken and didn’t swear once. Her dog didn’t budge from his afternoon nap.
The business owners of Spring Garden Road understandably dislike its popularity with pan handlers. They believe it makes shoppers and tourists uncomfortable and perhaps afraid.
What I noticed was this young woman endured more boredom and more rejection than most people can endure in a day, all in the fairly brief time I was waiting for my friend. She was not threatening, nor was her dog, and she didn’t look to me as if she was making much money.
I wondered what had decided her to sit on a sidewalk. What her options and alternatives were, or were not. I’m still thinking about her. Now I wonder where she will sleep on this cool, damp and foggy night.
Gemini