Conduit
In early 2012, after a couple failed farming “internships”, I found myself on a bit of a misadventure in the Bay Area. This is an interesting place to be a bum. Sonoma and Napa County are beautiful, and there is an overwhelming amount of wealth.
Even the soup kitchens are serving only the finest grass fed meats, artisan cheeses, and organic produce. At a breakfast service in Santa Rosa one morning, these nice ladies were handing out jackets, and I scored the most amazing vest. It was Marty McFly worthy — vintage, puffy, tri-color, with leather shoulders.
Fast forward a few days, and things were pretty rough. I was low on cash, and completely tapped out mentally, emotionally, and physically. I like to tell friends that living the hobo life is a lot like playing Zelda in real life — one minute you are getting this magic item or elixir, the next you’re lost and fighting for your life.
At this time I’m approached by a Japanese guy on the streets of Oakland who says to me, “Nice vest, me like. Me buy. $20?”
I really did not want to part with my gnarly vest. I also didn’t have a dollar toward the bus ride back to where I was staying in Penn Grove, much less anything for food, cell phone minutes, coffee…
“No, I can’t sell this vest.”
“Me buy, $100.”
Wow...
“Tell me, what would you do with this vest?”
“I come to San Fransico, and I fill a container with clothes, ship it back to Japan and sell to my friends.”
“How much will you get for this jacket?”
“$200.”
I realized this guy has seen so many amazing vests, and countless articles of clothing, more than I could imagine. And he clearly was doing very well for himself in the process. It was because he was a conduit for the awesomeness. It hit me at that moment that for me to experience all the greatest things possible, I would need to be a stream and not a pond.
“OK. I’m going to sell you this vest for $100. But it’s because you taught me a very valuable lesson…”
My attempt to describe the impression he made on me didn’t seem to be very successful. I’m pretty sure he just thought I was insane, which wouldn’t have been completely off target. Nevertheless, the experience changed me. Though, every once in a while I do think about how I’d like to sport that vest again…
