Imperious Entertainment

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His sweat-moistened little limbs curled instinctively into his center

It was that breathtaking moment at the circus when the second trapeze threatens to give a lazy finish before outstreched hands in the absence of the safety net

I held my breath, but my eyes would not close

wide-mouthed in disbelief...

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and just as my chest had nearly vacuumed all traces of sound from the space of that moment...


CRACK!
.
.
.
thump

The once creamy brown skin of half his pre-pubescent little face was now puffy and hot with blood. He stood dizzied, forbidding himself the chance to cry, but unable to hide the fact that he badly wanted to.

I regained most of my consciousness after that .8 seconds of magic and horror then stepped across the threshold in time for the doors to close behind me. I scooted briskly past the other boys and their music in observance of the fact that it was 10:30pm on a Monday, there was money to be made, and their show had to go on.

I had seen subway car performers like these boys before. It's always a mix of excitement and extreme fear when they enter your car. You know what's coming, and you want to trust that they've been doing these crazy stunts on moving trains long enough to "know what they're doing." ... but, really, what does that mean? These are children with lanky developing little bodies doing back flips, wheel barrel rolls, and in this most recent case, acrobatic tosses, on underground trains that shoot beneath the city at maximum speeds of (and probably exceeding) 65mph ... there is nothing that any of them could "know" that would make that remotely safe.

So you are glued to them ...these death-defying babies ... wondering who they are, where they've come from, and where they will end up ... knowing that one day the sway and halt of the train or the steel entanglement of loops and poles may get the best of one of them.

And today, when I saw this no-more-than-90lb mini-daredevil violently collide with the ceiling of the car and then fall limp to the floor as the doors opened in front of me, I was scared and inspired b/c it was nearly as beautiful as it was sickening. I'm not sure that I can fully articulate why right now, but it made me think about the sorts of death-defying feats that many of us attempt (or think we should be attempting) to survive life. What separates the daredevils from the idle passengers? Those who have and those who do not? If so, what can be said of the reality, that it is those in need who must risk what little they have for a few spare dollars and a dose of generic-brand aspirin so that they are numb enough to their pain to move to the next car and do it all over again?

Comments (5)

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written by wild cowgirl , July 30, 2007

i can fly too.
forreal forreal.

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written by T Pickens , July 31, 2007

I have another question: what about the people who don't help these kids find a more productive (and lucrative) form of entertainment & making money? what about the people that just walk away? (did you really walk away? can anyone talk to them, talk them out of this?)

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written by She Said , August 01, 2007

:::sigh::: yeah. I walked away. and they continued their hustle. I've had a number of conversations with friends about how scared/intimidated we are of our own children and I am no exception. I'm glad you asked though b/c (I) (we) need to be called out for falling short, especially when we do have the means to reach back and help. A very important point... one that is always lingering in my mind. One that I will move on. Thanks

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written by conachico , August 01, 2007

yo thats some live shit on the real. i was feelin it. i'm all about makin money but it's crazy what people will do. i think perceived options separate the passengers from the daredevils. implicitly the passengers don't resort to such means for funds because they get their money from a safer or "more respectable" source. there is a stratification of desirability as far as society is concerned. don't believe me? then look at forbes list of the 10 most desireable and 10 least desireable jobs (the latter which i find to be unecessary and cruel). it isn't even explicitly about income, as people let what people say they should be determine their paths in life all too often.

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written by T Pickens , August 01, 2007

you should see dirty jobs... a show where they look at some of the things that people consider gross but how integral they are to maintaining the services that we pride ourselves on having....

but yeah 'She Said' I don't think I would've done anything different from what you did, and I think your blog calls attention to that mindset - sometimes it takes one person to look at them crazy or just ask "why are you doing this?" or maybe several lol

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