Jan 26 2009
You Like Movies?
I left work a little early today so I could walk the dogs and get to the gym at a decent time. I was one of the first people at the stop, so I got a seat on the sardine-can we call ‘the bus’. I took my seat, opened my book and started reading. The bus started down its path home. At the next stop a young boy of around five years boarded with his young mother of maybe twenty years. The boy was cute. He sat next to a lady and asked, “Do you like movies?”
She said kindly, “Yes, I like movies.”
“You got a DVD player?”
A smile was all that was returned to the young boy.
Each person who boarded the bus was asked, “You like movies?” “You like movies?” “You got a DVD player?”
I stopped reading to watch how people reacted. Quite honestly, I thought the child was closing in on the “annoying-line” as the “cute-line” moved farther away. His mother would cast a smile and sometimes a laugh. By the way they were dressed, I imagined that money was not plentiful for them and maybe this boy had just seen his first movie on a DVD player. He seemed fasinated. Still, over and over again, he would say, “You like movies? You have a DVD player?”
Most people simply passed by looking for a seat as if the kid was not talking to them. The next common response was to smile, but not reply. Some would say, “No.” Some would laugh. And finally, a young lady locked eyes with the boy.
“You like movies?”
“What?”
“You got a DVD player?”
“Yes.”, she said with a soft smile.
“You like movies?”
“Yes.”
He had her full attention. As I looked around, I noticed he had the full attention of others as well. Then he gave his next question. “You got money?”
“What? No, I don’t have money.”
On to the next person he went. “You have money? You want to buy a DVD? We have the latest movies that you can’t get in stores.”
The kid was peddling illegal movies. His mother simply smiled with a bag on her lap. I assumed it was a bag containing the movies.
An older woman came on the bus. The questions came again. “You like movies?” “Yes” “You got a DVD player?” “Yes”
“Mama - you ask her if she has money and wants to buy a DVD.”
The boy came to me, looked at me and started his questioning. I stopped him by rasing my hand to his face. “Don’t ask me your questions young boy. I will save you time. I like movies. I have a DVD. I have money. But, you are annoying me so leave me alone.”
He left. The bus stopped. He and his mother got off.
It was disgusting. Now, all I can hear in my head is “You like movies.”
