A 3 Hour Life Lesson

My commute home tonight was just... ridiculous.

To make a long story short, I got off work at the Box Office (early!) and headed to the T. I figured I must have JUST missed my train, because it didn't come & so I settled in to wait another half hour for the next one. The other trains came and went... came and went... and eventually I had waited (with a few other people) for an HOUR with no L train.

That's when we realized no other trains were coming either.
Finally, after an hour of twenty minutes of waiting - alarms started going off in the tunnel and police filed down the stairs. We were told the lines were shutting down & we should just go "catch a bus." WHICH of course, is impossible for me. So even though my parents thought I had left almost an hour and a half ago... I had to call my dad and ask him to come downtown to pick me up. It took him an hour to get down there to get me (he HAD to take the "back way to avoid traffic. Uh huh.) and then 45 minutes for us to get back to my car at the T parking lot.

So by the time I got home.... I had been trying to get home for over three hours. While waiting though I had... quite the encounter.

This crazy man came up to me and started talking while I was waiting... it was one of those conversations you have because you know you JUST can't get out of them. I honestly thought he was a crazy, drunk, homeless man. He reeked of alcohol (brandy, he told me) and rambled on and on about so many things. He said he hasn't been on vacation in over 30 years. I asked him where the last place he traveled was and he told me he honestly can't even remember. I told him maybe it was time to take one - even a small one - and he waved his hand at me and told me he'd rather "give back to the North Side." Then he started telling me how he had these gardens and art all over that area; that's where his money goes. Dave Matthews Band even stopped in to visit him one time. On and on he rambled... then, before he hopped on his train he shook my hand and told me to look him up online. "Randyland in Pittsburgh" he kept saying.

Yeah, sure buddy. Whatever. Dave & Co stop by to visit me all the time too - when Madonna isn't over for lunch, that is.

....Well apparently he wasn't just a drunk idiot - I'm the idiot. I had never even HEARD of Randyland. But here it is... right before my internet stalking eyes. Completely, 100% legit. And that's him in the photos.

Also, from another online article/interview with him:

"Randyland" is filled with sculptures, plants, and 40-foot-high murals you've painted with clouds and castles. How do people react to it? Thousands of people come from all around the world to the [nearby] Mattress Factory [art gallery]. The Dave Matthews Band came by about two months ago. They jumped out of the van and took pictures. Mayor Murphy was jogging by one day. I said, "You want to see my alligators?" He said, "Randy, you're not allowed to have alligators in the city." I said, "You want to see them?" He's in his Spandex or whatever. So I showed him Randyland, and after he saw the cement alligators he laughed.

Who would have imagined that for once - the crazy, drunk guy at the T station wasn't homeless but in fact... this artist. Who actually PRODUCES something for the community? So while it took me over three hours to get home tonight... I really did learn you can't judge a book by it's cover - even if it reeks of booze.