Sunday,_November 16, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
m
PERSPECTI'
Cold and lonely: Ann Arbor by night
VE
By DOC KRALIK A couple of tables away a of the flourescent lights as they Ann Arbor Inn clank noisily for But I have no sword, and I'm
~JY KEY IS not in my rightntired young man slumps down search any soft shadow on the blocks. The spotlights cast no saint. If I were as rich as
Y hip pIket lik it s d bg in his booth. He has straggly ashen. concrete floor of the wierd orange billowing shadows J. Paul Getty, I'd buy that man
hip picket like it should be. brown hair entangled across his structure. of the flags against the front a coat.
Ithis not in m efthip pocke forehead and a knotted, dirty . of the inn. I venture a hlok; As I cross campus again, a
eihr i vrtigoto ber.H swarn' un TR
beard. He is wearing a torn into the Adult News, spotting a Burns security guard in Mason
my coat pockets and go through beat-up tweed sport coat. He corner window of Kay Baum' life-size male mannikin with a Hall stares out at me. He keeps
my pants' pockets two more has his hands in his pockets as there is a mannikin who looks huge erect dong, ready for staring. I suppose I'm the first
times. No key. if he is very cold, and fe sta:es like her name should be Helen. business h
It is 2:30 at night and here I at a cup of coffee in front of She is frozen forever in the act human being he has seen in an
am on the porch without a key. him, trying to keep his eyes of taking off an orange terry Walking up Liberty I say hour.
I live with a political scienc open. The crazy man and the loth bathrobe to reveal a sug- goodnight to Helen. A car pulls I stop in the Den and sheepish-
professor and his family and I Jesus Freak are talking loud gestive pink nightgown. I pass slowly to the curb right next ly ask a waitress for some
do not feel like waking them up. enough to be heard by everyone by saying "I love you, Helen," to me. The guy in the car just matches. The tired young man
After about five minutes I fig- in the joint. My eyes and t. ise under my breath. sits there, staring at me. I am is still sitting in front of hNs
ure what the hell and ring the of the tired young man meet, The Ann Arbor Federal Say pretty jumpy wondering just cold cup of coffee. His hands
ofwhatetherhellohegwantsebut heehave notomovedefrom his
door bell. No answer. I ring it and dance for a moment in cvni- ings Building on Liberty flashes shat the hell he wants, but he i have not moved from his
again. No answer. cal, exhausted laughter at the the time, 4:17. Just sits there. pockets, but he is having .ore
It is quiet on the street, and futility of these two dreamers. I can see a long way down Just before I get to State, a trouble keeping his eyes open.
awfully damn cold. It's a good I am out of cigarettes, so I the street. The air has a palp- kid steps out from a store front. FRIEND OF MINE is oat of
thing that I wore my heavy buy a new pack and leave the able grayness to it; I expect He has long blond hair and he town; she went to Peoria,
coat. The dew is running off the Den. Two street bums imme- that I will be able to reach out is holding his shoulders to stay Ill. for the weekend. Her ioom-
windshields of the cars. As I diately come up to me and ask my hand and feel it. All the warm. He has only a T shirt on. mate once told me that she
scrape my feet through the for 21c. This will be eao'gh lights in the downtown inter- i "Hey, man, do you know a place loved me. I decide that if she
grass, the cold water seeps in money to get them a cup of sections are blinking. Going where I can crash." loves me she can at least -ive
where my shoe leather is torn. coffee and the right to ,'y north-south they are blinking o Iy, me a place to stay. I call her
I walk up South Forest at a warm at one of the Den's yellow, east-west they are blink- d up. She says come over.
fast, angry pace. I'm one of booths. "We don't have a place' ing red. It is very sad to be without a
those eople who forgets every- rhnplace to sleep. Everyone seems When I get there she is sitting
th ppl g h e e to crash so we need to stay An insect has become lodged like your enemy. "Listen," I up studying, waiting for me.
Book" that I bought to stop for- a vak37" one says to me. I give between my big toe and the toe tell him, "try to sneak into one I sit down and.take off my shoe.
Boon tha . bught to sp fo them 37c which is all the money next to it. My shoes have big of the dorms and sleep in the I find that there is no insect
getting things. Right now I am mshave. I feel a strange sense holes by the toes and this hap- op net" between my toes.
pissed as hell at myself. of compassion and identity with pens sometimes. I let the insectts
VN THE CORNER of Forest hem--after all, I don't have a stay there and it gets all mushed "Sure, sure," he says and goes t t e i
and Oakland a huge brown them to crash either-so I offer up while I walk. Right now I back to the window to wait. Ingttoorigy gs
dog lifts his tired head to watch both a Marlboro. Their could use some company. ;get the distince impression ulat ing to go right.
me pass. Then he puts it slowly hands are very cold, and *hey he is looking at my coat. I
back between his paws, trying have trouble holding the ig- I walk right down the niddle imagine myself cutting my coat Doc Kralik is a member of
arettes steady while I light of the. street. I have not seen in half like St. Martin of Tours. The Daily's Editorial staff.
to keep his jowls warm, trin them another human being for half -------------_
to sleep.' m an hour. I keen- __®_O -- - ® _-® -O
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I stand in the phone booth next
to Village Corners. The wind
whistles through the crack in
the door. I dial my number and
listen to the phone ring 17 times.
I have this vision of my friend
the professor crawling out of
bed after groggily realizing that
the phone is ringing. He runs
out of the bedroom, down the;
hall, into the study, stumbles
over a lamp, falls into the.
lounge chair, desperately reach-
ing for the phone. At that precise~
moment the phone rings for
the 17th time and I hang up. My
friend the professor goes back
to bed. Sorry.
There are only a few souls:
shivering jauntily down South
University. A couple of hoods.
are leaning against the windows
of the Village Apothecary and
looking hungry.
BY NOW I am cold enough toI
want a cup of coffee, so I
stop in the Wolverine Den.
In the booth next to me, a
Jesus Freak with wispy blond
hair is trying to convert a man
who once spent time in a mental
institution.
The crazy man says, "Man, if
I were J. Paul Getty . . . if I
were J. Paul Getty do you want
to know what I would do? I
would only give jobs to people
on welfare. I wouldn't have any
poverty or any slums. And if
the U.S. government should try
to get me for tax evasion they
won't be able to touch me. They
can send planes and I'll blnst
them right out of the sky." The
crazy man's eyes are far anart
and he never seems to blink.
The Jesus Freak says ,o the
crazy man, "God will protect
you. You don't need any vio-'
lence. Just ask God's help."
CHARING CROSS
BOOKSHOP
Used, Fine and Scholarly Books
316 S. STATE-994-4441
Open Mon.-Fri. 10-8,
Sat. 10-6
I WALK THROUGH the (for, mowed down by machine gun -COUPON
once) unpopulated Engineering fire. I expect someone to step
Arch. I sit down on the diag, out from an alley and kick me
alone. The diag is pretty well in the balls.
lit these days.fI am the onl I reach for a cigarette, but BuySu
one trying to find a shadow to find that I don't have any '
hide in here. The night sky is matches left. I really need a
clear and perfectly black. cigarette right now.
I look around at the tired On Main Street I hear a siren,
ugly buildings, and at the go off. I whirl around, but the
charred arms of the bnrren siren shuts off, unexplained.1
trees overhead. "I havetbeen With a great rumble a street-
here long enough," I say to my- cleaner rolls into the intersec-
self, and start walking again. tion. The brushes slosh wildly
I get an insane urge to se eas the machine pulls a wet
what Ann Arbor looks tike at sliding 180 degree turn in the
night. What the hell else is here intersection, and heads right'
to do? back down Ashley. I
The Arcade is so silent I can FOUT sREy.h
hear the air rush from Maynard ON FOURTH STREET, the
to S. State. The Arcade seems' chains on the flagpoles of the GOURMET NATURE
wrong without the bent old
selling dirty magazines with one - I - m
hand.
Try
I go past the parking struc-N eh e
the time I tried to stop a fight ai W ith e
between some shitfaced football
players on the first floor of the from Wedn
structure. There is silence now, iass i fieds $12.95
except for the persistent buzzing:S
2 for 1 Special
GOOD ONLY THRU NOV. 20th
per Salad-GE
A large portion of fresh grE
mushrooms, cauliflower, olio
famous yogurt dressing.
Lo
a
AL FOOD RESTAURANT
hanksgiving D
esday to Monday moi
Per Day, Unlimited N
Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS
Join The Daily
Phone 764-0552
-COUPON-AC TRAVEL MICH. UNION 763-214
T 1 FREE DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
eens, tomatoes, cheese, AT
es and sprouts with our
NOT AVAILABLE FOR
CARRY OUT TWO TRIPS TO CHOOSE FROM
ngevity Cookery I Departing * DEC. 20-DEC. 29
314 E. Liberty * DEC. 27-JAN. 5
Ann Arbor, Mich. WE FEATURE:
(313) 662-2019 0 Chartered Greyhound Bus Service
to Daytona Beach departing Mich. Union
® - - - AAccommodations at the
Americano Beach Lodge
a $1 19/Quad
ay Special .$19o
rning with SIGN UP DEADLINE NOV. 19
Mileage FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 763-2147
or
COME TO 2nd floor-MICH. UNION
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MICHIGAN STUDIES ON CHINA
Allen S. Whiting
THE CHINESE CALCULUS
OF DETERRENCE
India and Indochina
"One of America's leading Sinologists, Allen S.
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. . . a fascinating, meticulous analysis of Peking's
reactions and the signals she has given regarding
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$15.00
ON SALE AT LOCAL BOOK STORES
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Anyone Can Rent a Beetle
RENTABEETLE 1820 Packard Rd. 994-9300
L i
T e Universitj of Micbi an Press
ANN ARBOR
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MAKE THE
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In addition to completely furnished
apartments with weekly maid service
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F
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UNIVERSITY
TOWERS
536 South Forest 761-2680
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