Street People

Polygraph

     The  city center of Seattle is small enough that certain street people who lived there became familiar figures to  all of us who worked in the vicinity, but I think Brook had a favorite.

     Among the familiar was the mentally disabled man who stood near the monorail station, tooting on his trumpet. He never produced a clear note, let alone a tune, but he never, never stopped trying. There was the plump young woman with the beatific smile who lived in the Public Safety Building containing the city courts.  She shocked citizens coming to the building for court when she disrobed to  bathe in the rest-rooms and slept in the elevator, but she stayed, because it was the “Safety” building. Eventually, she was lured to move to a safer place by nuns who ran a street ministry. A woman with extreme Tourette’s or other neurological disorder regularly walked past City Hall cursing loudly and moving her arms in a circular motion like she was washing windows.

     Brook learned to keep a straight face and never acknowledge the angry man who walked down the aisle of the city bus, pointing to one person after another, and saying, “You’re ugly. And you’re ugly. And you’re ugly.” But I think his favorite was the woman who came to the Minor and James cardiology clinic for an EKG or treadmill stress test.

     When the doctor went to counsel her about her test results, he came rushing out of the consultation area and told Brook, “You go talk to her. She’s in there talking to herself.”   

     When Brook approached, he heard her laugh and say, “White boy’s lying. Everybody knows it’s a polygraph!”