A:
I love telling the story of when I was waiting for the bus at
Orange St. and Hollywood Blvd., during a period in my life when
my car was not running, it was in the shop, and I was depending
on public transportation. I was just trying to mind my own business,
but being an actor who notices everything and people watches for
research, it was hard to ignore my fellow busstop mates.
To
my left, a regular looking guy, tall, maybe 6'2", lanky,
Tiny Tim-ish, OH and he had an aluminum foil turban complete with
radar and towers, fangled together out of coat hangers and duct
tape. Adorned with buttons and shiny objects, it sat atop his
head. "Don't stare in that direction. Mental note..."
I smile a little, realizing he's noticed me seeing him. Single
L.A. girl, one can't seem too friendly. So I turn away from him
and face the other direction... where I notice man number two,
average height, plain enough, holding a stuffed bunny rabbit...
which would be normal except for the fact that he was TALKING
to his stuffed bunny rabbit.
These
two absurd observations in a row flung me into a state of the
solo giggles. First a slight smile, realizing where I'm headed
(the giggles), trying to dissuade myself because it's embarrassing
to be standing alone in public with a huge grin on my face. But,
of course, the harder I try NOT to laugh... yep, you guessed it...
the harder they come, the bigger the grin. People don't "get"
solitude and happy combinations. But I could not help it, the
giggles got the best of me, and before I know it, kittycorner
to Mr. Alien Helmet and Mr. Bunny Talker, is Ms. Giggles.
A
car filled with a suburban tourist family, probably visiting Hollywood
their first time, were stopped at the stoplight there at Orange
and Hollywood, and taking in "the local culture". Smack
in the middle of my giggle fit, I turn to notice the mother looking
at "us", mainly ME, at the busstop. She looked horrified.
Almost as horrified as I looked at my two comrades upon first
arriving at the busstop myself.
I
realized that day how alike we all are, whether we'd like to admit
it or not.
We
are all human, all odd and all quirky, (in my case, "off
the beaten path") in our own ways.
