12 hours and three Guiness Draughts later, I have settled in for a couple of hours of online interaction before passing out. I need to do this more often so that I can keep from spraying emotional venom into the faces of the people I have to tattoo for money. I had a couple of humans that stopped by the shop today and harshed what little logic / perception vibe I have left; but the real inspiration for tonight’s tirade is brought to you by one of the denizens of the Tribal Urge neighborhood. Terry, Tiny, Tipsy; I don’t remember the street moniker he chose to go by. All I can remember right now is his sidewalk sales offer…

“‘Skewmee! Skewmee muh manh!” I heard over my shoulder as I was leaving the shop at about 1:30am. He jog-walked up to me, introduced himself and began his pitch by inviting me three storefronts down the block to show me his exciting deal. It was a 17″ RCA TV that he said he’d carried from his apartment in the nearby residential district over five blocks away. It became too heavy for him to continue carrying, so he was offering it to anyone within earshot for the extremely desperate price of only $25. When I turned down his offer, he explained that he really needed the money to score an ounce worth of his favorite drug and dropped the price to $10 dollars. I explained to him that he was dealing from a very Anikin-Skywalker-on-the-hillside-esque bargaining position and that he really couldn’t expect a sale. When he asked why I had to be all like dat wit him, I pointed out the major holes in his plan of attack.:

• He left the apartment, that he said earlier he’d lost and been thrown out of, at one in the morning with a TV he could no longer muster the strength to carry, with the intent of of taking it to a destination he couldn’t give. Why, that didn’t sound suspicious at all…
• As he at one point told me, he lacked the strength to carry the TV any further. Why should anyone bother to pay for something that his body’s natural need for sleep will eventually force him to leave behind anyway?
• He was attempting to sell this TV on a block that, according to the brightly illuminated signs, contains three different pawn shops. Again, suspicious? Nah…

So why didn’t I just hand him $5 and take the TV? Part of me thought of driving over his ass and just taking the TV anyway. But I have a problem with helping to promote the stealing and sale of goods in the hood. I have sacrificed far too many panes of auto glass to a subculture that in return has given me nothing but uncomfortable rides to work on seats full of embedded glass micro-slivers that all the post-robbery vacuuming failed to remove. Fuck those people and anyone willing to support the destruction of the homes and lives of others in order to avoid paying full price for a CD or some kitchen appliance or another.