Boston by foot
Earlier this week, a few thousand people ran by downstairs.
There were professionals, and there were normal people.
So we too braved inclement throat conditions and went on down. People had lined the streets, calling out to the runners as they went by. We too added our voices to the mix.
Some kept going. Some stopped. Some stopped, and then kept going.
A guy went by in a black full-sleeved shirt with a Stealie on it. I yelled, "Deadhead!" He turned around, smiled smiled smiled, and just kept truckin on.
Two Koreans went by, man and woman, with their flag tacked to their outfits. I shouted, "Palli-palli!" (Korean for "Hurry-hurry!", the national motto of South Korea.) The guy jerked his neck round, and without breaking his stride, replied, "Palli-palli?!" Exuberantly, I answered, "Palli-palli!" He waved his hand and said, "Okay, thank you!" and was gone. Folks around seemed impressed, but I found myself regretting not having said "Beckseju".
But of all, quite my favorite was this:
And so we stood, watching them go by. Somehow we missed the guy we'd been waiting to see but that apart, the hours passed happily.
On and on they went, till late in the evening. By 6 or so, mostly they were walking. But still they kept on. And we cheered, till we left.
Another day. Another experience. Today it's traffic as usual.
There were professionals, and there were normal people.
So we too braved inclement throat conditions and went on down. People had lined the streets, calling out to the runners as they went by. We too added our voices to the mix.
Some kept going. Some stopped. Some stopped, and then kept going.
A guy went by in a black full-sleeved shirt with a Stealie on it. I yelled, "Deadhead!" He turned around, smiled smiled smiled, and just kept truckin on.
Two Koreans went by, man and woman, with their flag tacked to their outfits. I shouted, "Palli-palli!" (Korean for "Hurry-hurry!", the national motto of South Korea.) The guy jerked his neck round, and without breaking his stride, replied, "Palli-palli?!" Exuberantly, I answered, "Palli-palli!" He waved his hand and said, "Okay, thank you!" and was gone. Folks around seemed impressed, but I found myself regretting not having said "Beckseju".
But of all, quite my favorite was this:
And so we stood, watching them go by. Somehow we missed the guy we'd been waiting to see but that apart, the hours passed happily.
On and on they went, till late in the evening. By 6 or so, mostly they were walking. But still they kept on. And we cheered, till we left.
Another day. Another experience. Today it's traffic as usual.
posted by Tabula Rasa | 4/20/2006 02:38:00 AM
7 Comments:
enjoyed this. loved the 'palli palli' :)
If it was a Tamilian, he would have been startled to see a gecko chasing him (Palli = lizard in Tamil, I think)
sattva:
yes, it was good fun!
km:
aha -- you think there's some etymological roots stuff happening? (or, for all you know, i sent a madrasi scurrying off in the other direction).
"there were professionals and there were "normal" people"
made me smile!! some nice flicks tr.
Hey TR! I see that someone is having a good time :-)
Like pix #2 and the last one.
And, thanks for all the advice.
ditto with S, the palli palli is cool :))
k:
thanks! it came out funnier than i intended, but yes -- professionals can run 40 kilometers if they jolly well wish, but that's beyond the realms of normalcy as far as i'm concerned.
the pix are kind of okay. i was lazy, just stood in one place. actually, the fact that we were looking out for someone meant i couldn't really focus (haha) -- or at least, that's the excuse for you.
ghost:
hey, welcome back! thanks...
gift:
thanks man -- consider it an addition to your vocabulary ;-)
next stop: "hey, pANGja-yaaa".
Post a Comment
<< Home