FUNNY THING... (FROM APRIL 19, 2006)

So I'm sitting on my front steps waiting for a ride the other night when a dude comes up and asks if he can join me.

"Why not?" I say.

Now, nothing he would do in the next five minutes would in any way bother me, but in light of his parting comment I couldn't help finding the whole interaction rather amusing. In that brief span of time he would:

-ask me for a money (misdemeanor- panhandling)

-enjoy an alcoholic beverage on a public street (misdemeanor- open container)

-attempt to sell me marijuana (misdemeanor- drug offense)

-attempt to sell three passersby marijuana (3 more drug offenses)

-loiter (misdemeanor)

-litter (misdemeanor)

- Attempt to sell three passersby memory cards for their cell phones. (Possession and attempted sale of stolen goods)

(To be fair, perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt on the last one. I don't know what an "authorized" independent late-night cellular phone memory card street vendor looks like-- or even if such a thing exists-- but then, if they do I don't imagine they carry open cans of malt liquor.)

As I said, I didn't really give a shit about any of it, but when the police seemed to have ceased their runs on Nicollet, he took his leave, saying, "Thanks for letting me duck-down here. Those motherfuckers got nothing better to do than drive up and down the street hassling innocent people!"

At that, it took some restraint on my part not to bust-out laughing.

People like that really make my day.