Just back from San Francisco, and I’ve realized that traveling back to Portland is one of my favorite things now. Besides the obvious mushy stuff like I’m happy to be going home so I get to see Kenny and the kids, there is tremendous people watching.
Yesterday, I grabbed a chair in the terminal and BlackBerried furiously like the addicted workaholic East Coaster I am. Across from me – outdoorsy dude napping. Next to me to the left – funky girl with short purple hair and thick bangs laying on the floor, occasionally sitting up to eat a spoonful of soup. Next to me to the right – a musician.
How did I know he was a musician? He was playing a Sansu, of course. Not familiar? Yea. Me neither. I had to Google it when I got home because I was pretty curious. Seems like it more commonly goes by “mbira”.
Here’s a sample selection:
My favorite part of the wait was when napping dude woke up and Sansu-rocker told him he liked his watch.
Napping dude: Thanks. It’s solar-powered. It tells me the barometric pressure. Latitude and longitude. Has a compass. That’s, uh, a neat looking instrument you have there.
Sansu-rocker: Thanks. It’s a Sansu.
Me (in my head): Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?
Napping dude: Nice. It looks like it was built from a lot of recycled materials. Like – are those broken off forks you got on there? Bottle caps on the bottom?
Sansu-rocker: I have six of these. I didn’t make this one, it’s from Zimbabwe.
Me (in my head): Dude. That wasn’t the question.
Napping dude: That’s cool, man.
Sansu-rocker: They are getting more and more common. I bring mine everywhere.
Me (in my head): Sweet. I don’t have to take the kids to piano lessons. I can just get them Sansus, bring them on our trips and have some friends teach them in the terminal. Oh, and could I be more boring? I mean really. I don’t even wear a watch. And I definitely don’t have a Sansu. I do, however, have a lovely white BlackBerry. And apparently, that’s a clear sign that I am from the East Coast because West Coasters are all about iPhones / Droids. (I learned that in San Francisco – from a waitress.)
