There were spectacular sideshows on the sidewalks of Nashville. No need to enter a bar to see a parade of characters. The tourists made up one part of a two-part drama that ran simultaneously on the same sidewalks. I had to pull over to give the actors my full attention. It was easy to keep the tourist drama troupe separate from the homeless group.

The tourist wore cowboy/girl boots and cowboy/girl hats. Females donned sparkly shorts or skirts and lots bling. The gals outfits displayed little fabric and exposed lots of skin. There were tattoos peeking out from under all garments. The tourist troupe took many selfies and group photos. The homeless were phoneless.

From my perch in the bar window, I could watch the double dramas play out in air-conditioning. The rowdy revelers moved in groups. There was some wobbling and groping going on.The homeless moved solo or staked out a spot and stayed there. They wore what they had, whether it fit or not.

The band on stage, inside played really well, but my attention was held by sights on the steamy sidewalk. I considered the band  background music for the silent, outdoor drama.

There was a real life occurring on the corner. A man I named “Kindness” and his docile dog lounging on its bed were setup on the edge of the sidewalk just below my lookout.  I call the man Kindness because his large, cardboard sign read SEARCHING FOR HUMAN KINDNESS.

Several blonde women gave Kindness money. One tourist sat beside him and his dog to have his picture taken. Then the tourist got up, shook Kindness’s hand and walked away. Wasn’t that kind of him?

Kindness tried to share his food with his dog but the dog sniffed it reluctantly. I hope the food was not the spoiled spoils from a hot trashcan. Kindness kept putting the food near the dog’s mouth until it ate it.

Kindness and his dog had the perfect spot where the sidewalk widened just before a crosswalk on a busy corner. The metal poles between the street and the sidewalk kept them from being stepped on.

Kindness must be an important fixture of the homeless community. I did not take his photo. I sketched him in my notes. He is a human not a public figure/fixture, so a photo would have been inappropriate. Other homeless humans came by to visit Kindness on his corner.

First came woman I named “Toy” because her sign, written in red marker,  read SAVING FOR A SEX TOY. Toy brought Kindness a pair of black shoes to try on. They fit so he kept them on and slipped his white, speckled crocks into his bag.

Later Toy returned with an opened bag of chips and sat beside Kindness. They both ate out of the bag until it was empty. They did not offer the sleeping pit any chips.

A small male I named “Pants” had on loose jeans that required being held up by one hand as he held his sign with the other. Pants came by many times from the same direction. I guess he was circling the same block over and over. He would glance into the trashcans each time he passed.

Pants paused once during his rounds to borrow a marker from Kindness. Pants changed something on his cardboard sign and continued his one-way, circular route. I never saw what his sign said but it was torn from a Capri Sun box.

The band in the Luke Bryan bar was great but the sidewalk parade was where the real action was. Too much and too little right there together.

It’s hard for a band to compete with all that sparkle and suffering.

FLOW