friday august 29

today i was driving home from work and, as usual, had my windows down while blasting a rap cd. as i pulled up to a red light at oxford/hyde park, lil' wayne's "dipset," a particularly offensive selection, was playing. so when i noticed a car in the lane to my right pulling up and slowing down beside me, despite the fact that there were about two or three car lengths of space in front of him, i became concerned. i glanced out of the corner of my eye and realized that the driver was a black guy wearing a slightly tilted baseball cap, and was trying to get my attention. paranoid at being called out for the music i was listening to, i quickly turned the volume down to a barely audible level and looked hesitantly out my passenger-side window at him, waiting for the mockery that was sure to come. "hey man, do you know if i passed platt's lane already?" he asked. i was so relieved at the innocuous line of questioning that i quickly blurted out the only slightly helpful response, "yeah, it's back there!" and gestured behind me. he nodded thanks and pulled away, leaving me to turn my music back up, though not quite as loudly as before.