Saturday 18 October 2008

Street people


On a recent afternoon walk into town, I bumped into a lot of PPP's: people with personal problems.

A man was walking along the road mumbling incoherently to no one in particular. He was carrying a beer bottle, and everyone who approached him made a dash to cross the street.

A woman was being dragged into a toy store by a mentally handicapped teenage boy who was taller and stronger than her. She was promising him that they would come back later once they had finished the job they had originally set out for.

Two women wearing very high heels were walking very slowly side-by-side, arms linked, on a very narrow road in the middle of town, discussing what they would like to buy - it had to be new - for the wedding they were invited to on the forthcoming weekend. They probably couldn't hear me walking behind them because their chatter, combined with the sounds from their heels clonking hard on the pavement, was much louder than my soft sole sneakers, so I had to wait till the road widened slightly to get away from them. They were so lucky not to be on a time limit of one hour to walk from one side of town to the other and back again in order to pick up their children from their clubs.

And that was life on a Tuesday afternoon some time last month in the town of Hania.

10 comments:

  1. You had a hard hour in town.
    It's hard when things (PPPs) like that get to you.

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  2. you are a great narrator!
    loved those vignettes..

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  3. The teenage boy story is particularly sad, I feel.

    I remember some years ago a middle aged man walking in the rain with an umbrella. He appeared to be talking to the umbrella. That was a little unsettling.

    So many troubled people in the world. It is quite noticeble in a city street!

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  4. I dislike pictures like this - "naked" of trees or flowers! I often wonder how people can live in cities, especially in Greece...
    Imagine now how I felt when I saw in a latest post that the council workers cut some trees! Even if they had to do so, it was a terrible picture!

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  5. Looks quiet - no tourists. The high-heelers might have had trouble progressing.

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  6. i don't like it when people walking ahead block the way for the people behind. :( doesn't seem very considerate. :(

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  7. Wish I had the time to stroll about in town, like you I am always rushing back and forth driving and dropping off the kids to whereever they have to be next.

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  8. Hi MKiwi! It seems that hour was specially tough, but my experience of Chania (as a tourist, ok) didn't look so bad... ;)
    Chopping down trees; wouldn't it be wiser to find another solution for the electricity cables? ;))

    Now, do you w look at a magic place: Delos, Apollo’s birthplace and home to Dionysus sanctuary? Blogtrotter has it! ;))
    Hope you enjoy! Have a great weekend!

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