Ross Danced in Union Station... and Diogenes Moments...

Ross and I did not have a rigid schedule when we met... We did not plan our visits to the downtown core... where the entertainment venues are located... where we knew that we could have a bite and a drink... We just met together at one of the underground hubs... and took it from there... We believed in spontaneity and scheduling things restricted creativity and enjoyment... We  believed in the moment... and wanted to do whatever the moment suggested... before and after the main attraction... a play, or a concert, or a ballet, or an opera... or just a walk in the downtown core... just a walk after the happy hour, after our meal... our drinks...
We roamed... purposefully purposeless... and we winged through time and space... in those moments Ross was at his creative best... He was ingenious... He acted well knowing that I will support him... 
We usually met at Union Station... the downtown hub for trains and the subway... It is a wonderful building... spacious and high ceilings... Ross loved the Station... When he was younger the family visited the city travelling by train from Montreal... and now he took the train to Montreal to stay with his brother... for a weekend... may be few weeks... He loved Montreal... he was familiar with the streets... But that's for another day...

  

Union Station... a glorious venue... a friendly place... the start of our afternoon adventure...

The Union Station was familiar to Ross... in fact, he felt at home in the building... actually he felt more than at home in the Station...
And one day we met there for a roaming afternoon and night in the city...
Ross complained that I was late... that he was waiting for about thirty minutes... But he was happy... His eyes twinkled and I was sure he was up to something... Rossian trick to begin the afternoon... 
Right after greeting me and complaining for his wait... he directed my attention to the sound of a violin playing joyful tzgan-gypsy music... He knew that I love the violin and the cello and also tzgan music from the Balkans... 

 

Ross had no inhibitions... and he began dancing to the tzgan music...

 Ross teased me... " Did you know that the Balkans... is a beautiful place... on the Mediterranean... blue waters and high cliffs and good food and tzgan music..." He was repeating some phrases from an old conversation... that we had before...

He directed us to the corner where an elderly guy was playing the music... He had placed the violin case open in front of him and sitting on a stool was entertaining the passers by...

"He is playing beautiful music...," Ross whispered aloud... He wanted me to get into the mood... and we listened a tune... Rossed tossed all the coins that he had in his pocket... Ross always tossed coins to people on the street... homeless people and street entertainers... 

The older guy began a lively tune... Ross waited for few notes... He looked at me... He waited for few more notes... and suddenly darted in the middle where the open violin case was resting... and he began to dance... He jumped and hopped... laughing aloud... He circled the violin case... and I did not have much choice... I began clapping... with the rhythm of the gypsy... and Ross got encouraged... He jumped higher... opened his arms and laughed... 

People gathered... They clapped with me... and Ross continued... The music stopped... and people applauded... Ross was very happy and the older musician was happier... people put lots of bills in the open case... 

 

We waited for few minutes and went to Royal York Hotel... for our happy hour... 

***
Diogenes walking around with a lantern during the day... Looking for man and woman...

Difficult to Imagine...?  A nationwide survey found Flint, Michigan residents paid the highest water rates in America.  Yes, for the privilege of drinking that disgusting, contaminated, in fact poisonous water, the folks of Flint paid about $864 a year, almost three times the US national average... This image provided by FlintWaterStudy.org shows water samples from a Flint, Michigan home. The bottles were collected, from left, on Jan. 15 (2), Jan. 16 and Jan. 21, 2015. ... And Flint residents paid the highest rate in the US for the dirty and contaminated...  not-safe-for-human-use... in fact, poisonous water... Because the Governor wanted to save money... on the back of the poor folks of Flint...  Big Brother scam...?

And...

"The water is just terrible and unbearable," say the residents... in St. Joseph, Louisiana...

On some days, the tap water in St. Joseph, Louisiana is the same rusty color as the water tower.     The residents complain...   But the municipality insists that the water is safe since the brown colour is from iron content... which is 32 times higher than the regular (normal?) tap water...and it is okay... they say... since the Government guidelines allow iron to be present in the tap water...    The shower spews putrid yellow or brown water, at least once a week... and no one cares...!                    Will the bureaucrats bath or shower in this water...?  Iron or lead... it looks disgusting...

Question...

What Flint and St. Joseph have in common...?

Answer...

• Small towns... 
• Mostly black residents...
• Poor people...

...and both at the mercy of the Big Brothers in their towns... !!!