ADVENTURES IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Class, if I’d…
– by Ken Bolding
Some (possibly slightly crazy) Guy: (screaming from across the street) You going golfing?
Me: No. Photography.
I arrive at the bus stop, and set down my bags. Guy crosses the street and approaches.
Guy: What is that?
Me: Photography equipment.
Guy: (excited) But what’s that sticking out of your bag?!
Me: (sigh) It’s a collapsible frame for a piece of diffusion.
Guy eyes me suspiciously.
Guy: You from JPL? [NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
Me: No.
Guy: C’mon, really?
Me: No.
Guy stares at me for a few seconds, leans in, and then asks in a conspiratorial whisper, “you classified?”
Me: No.
Guy: Seriously, are you classified?
Me: No.
Guy: I don’t know if I believe you… (accusingly) You smell like skunkworks!
He takes a moment and then suspects I might have misinterpreted his accusation as a dig against my personal hygiene, rather than as an accusation that I’m a scientist working on secret government projects.
Guy: I mean, you don’t actually smell at all. You smell like Purell… And you’re not classified? You don’t work for JPL?
Me: No.
Guy: Hmmm. (tentatively) OK… You have a good day.
Me: You too.
