the revolution

So on my quick little trip to the Metropolitan Cafe for lunch today, I had an interesting little encounter with a fellow I'll henceforth call "Kurt," as his long hair parted down the middle, age of not yet 20, unkempt demeanor and skater shoes reminded me of all the guys I went to middle/high school with while Nirvana was at it's peak.

I first noticed Kurt when I was outside talking to Special K on the phone before I went in to get lunch. He was talking to an older woman who he may or may not have actually known prior to walking up to her. I didn't think much of it, and went in to order. After I made my order, I was standing back from the counter about 4 feet next to the drink refrigerator, quietly waiting for my sandwich to be sanded. Kurt was standing to the left of me about 3 feet, hovering around looking at the menu, and then he went up to order and after he finished ordering, he spun around and leaned with his back up against the counter and said,

"Hey."

"Hi," I reply, surprised.

"Has your day been good?" he continued.

"Umm, yeah, it has," I respond.

He looks at me for a second and then asked, "Really?"

Before I could answer, the owner gave him his change back and he had to turn back around.

Now normally, I really don't mind friendly greetings from strangers, but this guy seemed a little off. Or maybe a little off +. I don't know, call it a "person of logical thought processes" feeling.

So before he had a chance to turn back around, I quickly position myself up at the front of the other side of the counter, to get myself as close to any other life forms as possible. He moves back to where I had originally been standing, so we essentially switched places. After a few glorious moments of alone time waiting for my food, he - almost seemingly in one motion - slid up next to me at the counter with about one foot of breathable air betwixt us and said,

"So, uh, you're not from around here are you? I mean, not right around here are you? I mean, you're from Dallas though."

"Umm, no, I'm not from Dallas," I said, destroying all the hopes and pipe dreams in his past, present and future.

"You're not? Dang!" he said, with a look that was MUCH more confused than it should have been, given that he didn't know I existed five minutes ago, let alone my place of origin.

Then he said, "Okay, think of a name and concentrate on it really really hard."

*I think "Kevin" really really hard*

"CHERYL!" he asserts.

"No, it wasn't Cheryl," I said.

He let loose another "Dang!"

THEN he turns to me and asks, "If I start a revolution - which I will - would you be part of it with me?"

At this point, the girl behind the counter asked me if I want mustard on my turkey sandwich, which, of course, I do, and I told her so. When I turn back to Kurt, he went on,

"And yes, I'm serious."

I asked him what he would be revolutionizing, and he went on to tell me that he wanted to promote anarchy and unite the world and destroy all other forms of government. Oh, that and rap music.

"Oh, well, I really like rap music, so I guess I can't really be a part of that," I say.

He seemed a little discouraged, but not for long. He went on to tell me HOW he plans on eliminating rap from the world (but did NOT, surprisingly, share the details of his plan to unite the world via anarchy). See, he's going to become a rapper - a really famous one that everyone likes - and since people will love him, he'll start dissing (that's right) rap, and then rap will undoubtedly be destroyed.

He shared that rap music just makes girls feel like they need to be demeaned and be.....let's just say for the sake of editing.....unsavory in all manner of prudence. I reply by saying that no, rap music doesn't cause girls to want to be "unsavory in all manner of prudence" but that the family institutions of these girls he's so worried about don't provide enough of a foundation of self-respect and a positive self image if the girls are modeling themselves after the dancers in rap videos. He came back with an authoritative,

"Yeah, I guess so."

It was about this time that my sandwich was coming out of the kitchen, and as I was taking my to go bag, Kurt told me that it was nice to talk to me.

"Good luck with your revolution," I say and smile as I walk out of Metro wondering if I really just had that conversation.