Every morning while I'm walking into work, there are gentlemen with hoses, whose job it is to spray the streets with water. Most of the time I recognize them, and I speak or nod my head, as they temporarily stop the stream of water so I can walk by. Sometimes the exchanges are pleasant, other times they are very minimal, but that's fine by me. As long as that water stops, and I can pass by without getting wet, everyone wins--which brings me to this morning's assclown.

This guy saw me coming towards him and twice he looked at me, put his head down and kept spraying the water. As I got closer, he stopped the stream of water, and I walked by him, but he said nothing and neither did I. But before I was able to completely clear the line of fire, he started spraying the hose again, and my entire left pants leg, and the left side of my shirt was wet. I wasn't drenched in water, but it was definitely noticeable since I have on a light colors. 10 years I've been working in the city and never have I been splashed, so I KNOW its avoidable. I put my bag down in front on the Au Bon Pain, and I proceeded to step to this guy.

Now, I know I'm 35, and too old be getting into fights/skirmishes, but come on, I should get a pass here. No one should be arriving at work with wet clothes, especially when it could have been avoided. So as I walked towards this dude, I fully expected for things to get physical, and it just made things worse when I noticed the smirk/half smile on his face as he kept saying, "What, what I do?", which didn't help matters. But I noticed he completely stopped and dropped his hose, and was backpedaling a bit, which told me he aware that he may be in the wrong and something might go down. The following conversation ensued

Me: What the f**k man?
Him: I'm sorry bro, I'm sorry
Me: Then what the f**k are you laughing at?
Him: I just didn't mean to....

At this point I mushed the guy with my left hand and he stumbled over the hose and fell on his ass. Then he quickly got up, rushed towards me and swung on me twice. The first time he missed, the second time he hit my arm, and I was getting ready to hit him, when the police came, at which point both of us got our act together, and stopped dead in our tracks.

The police asked me what happened, and I explained that I got sprayed and knocked the guy down, and the guy confirmed but said it was accidental. The policeman looked at me and suggested I head to work before I got myself in trouble, and I did so, but not before being serenaded with a "F**k you bro" as I walked away--the cop just laughed but I noticed (I kept looking back) that he stood there until I was out of sight. I don't regret a damn thing, except not knocking this guy out and stuffing his hose down his throat. I do recognize that I could have gotten in much more trouble, because of my immature actions, and for that I apologize(to who I don't know). And I'm also glad it was 7:30am, which means the street was still relatively empty. But what would you do if you were in my shoes?

Anyway..this day was supposed to be a good one, and I do believe it still can be. I'd like to thank all of you who prayed for the Wizards to win the lottery and the number one pick, because they did just that. I was watching The Wire, while the lottery was on, but I knew something was up when my phone rang twice, and my blackberry light kept blinking. This is a pretty big deal, and it insures that all year, all eyes will be on the Wizards for something positive, which (hopefully) means my writing gets even more exposure. Good times all around.


And finally, this is the third anniversary of the fire that caused me to lose everything I owned--except my laptop. Last year, a friend of mine asked me why if I was going to mention this every May 19th, and I said hell yes. Its a reminder of how thankful I am to be living, alive and well, because it could have ended very differently for me. And each and every time I open my laptop, and see the the dents and scars the fire left, I am reminded of that, and I choose not to let that day come and go without remembering. Besides, had I been taken out in the fire, would I have had the chance to mush Mr. Water-The-Sidewalk-Man this morning? I don't think so.

I'm Still #1 - KRS-One