First real task: completed!

Location: Omaha. Temperature: frickin' cold! Gear needed: thermalunderwearshirtspantssweatshirtssocksocksscarfhatgloves!



Check!

Assembly?



Check!

So, I was hoping my something fantastic would come from the people-side of life, so I located myself in a place where people would likely pass by on the street corner : the Old Market downtown.

I found a location suitable to passersby and started taking notes. It was 8:30 p.m. on a Friday night.



However, this spot didn't seem as trafficked or as interesting as the spot across the street that had horse-drawn carriages nearby!



I decided this was where I was going to make my stand, and I took pictures of the view:



Few things happened before the fantastic besides a lot of standing still, but here are a few excerpts from my journal:

One of the horses went to take a piss and it missed the bucket. It gushed like a bathtub faucet.

I share the sidewalk with an on-foot cop. He's talking to someone on his cell phone. The last thing he just said is "I've got some new porn for you to watch.... Yeah, it's called 'Strollin' in the Colon.'"

A random middle-aged lady just asked me where Veemurt's(sp?) is. I have no clue.

I was asked if a guy with dreadlocks passed this way and, if so, which way he went. I pointed them in my best guess direction.


At approximately 9:30-9:40, two girls walked by (both first time passersby) and the one with bleached hair stopped to ask me if I was cold. I responded that I wasn't really, since I had lots of layers on, but that I wished I had worn more socks. She agreed and small talk commenced.

They asked if anything exciting was going on and I said, "well, not yet, but that's actually what I'm waiting for." They asked about that and I replied "Well, specifically I'm waiting here for something fantastic to happen." I explained to them a little about the game and then some more of their friends came over.

We talked about what I liked to do and I told them about my band and how I played the accordion, keyboard, and guitar. I also told them the sad but true fact that I had accidentally misheard the man who had just repaired my accordion and thought it was going to cost $65. He actually said it was $65/hr and the total cost ended up being $260, which I certainly don't have right now, so I don't have my accordion right now.

We went on to talk more about the band and where I lived, what I did, etc... And, eventually, the girl with bleached hair (I'm so terrible with names) told me that they had $40 that they wanted to give me towards my accordion. I was pleasantly shocked and accepted with much thanks. We eventually went our separate ways, but I gave them the band's MySpace and took this photo:



I told them I was going to go home on the mere fact that they noticed me and stopped to talk (after a while of standing there, I didn't think even that would happen). Filled with joy, I told them that they were my fantastic for the night!

Here's my newly-bestowed accordion ransom money:



Overall, I got some people watching in and, though I doubted anything would ever happen, I really did witness something fantastic:

People actually caring enough to stop and talk, and then beyond that, caring more to help someone out (especially a musician of all people) with a problem that they don't know much about. It was good to be trusted, accepted, and feel like fast friends.