What Crazy Looks Like

30th Street Train Station in Philadelphia

This past Friday, I put my car in the Firestone Shop at 32nd and Market Streets to have some minimal repairs done. Since this type of thing usually takes a couple of hours, I decided to walk over to the 30th Street Train Station to peruse some of the shops inside and pick up some newspapers and magazines.

Upon entering the train station, I thought it would be a good idea to get some money out of the ATM machine. While I was standing there, I noticed her out of the corner of my eye. She was a very attractive woman who kinda put you in the mind of the singer, Keyshia Cole, though a few years older. She was dressed very nicely and sitting at one of the many tables that are situated outside of the restaurants and coffee shops inside the train station. She had a lot of papers on the table that she was peering at and she appeared to be talking on a cell phone. I've seen this scenario a million times in the airports, train stations, and coffee shops I've gone to... people waiting for planes and trains, tapping away on laptops or blackberries, and chatting away on cell phones. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it.

I got my money, counted it, and put it in my wallet. I looked over at the lady and I could see that she was staring at me. She winked (which under the circumstances, I thought was kind of odd) and I smiled. She then asked me if I could lend her eighty cents so she could buy a cup of coffee. I get propositioned for money by homeless people and bums all the time and depending on my mood, I either let go of a few dollars or I keep walking. Today was her lucky day so, I passed her a dollar. (Where are you going to get coffee for eighty cents outside of McDonalds anyway?)This seemed strange to me because, at first glance, this was the type of woman that I would be borrowing money from... not vice versa.

Anyway, I walked over to hand her a dollar and the first thing I noticed was that all of the papers on the table were dirty and handwritten with mathematical equations and alphabets all over them in no certain order. The woman looked at me and said, "When I get my new house, I'm going to have you over and we can spend some time together." Say what? Maybe she had me mistaken for someone else, I thought! Then, she said.. "Don't mind all these documents. I'm trying to get my business plan together. I emailed Obama from my cell phone this morning. He hasn't hit me back yet but, I'm trying to get him to give me a government loan so I can set up my businesses. I have a plan to set up a franchise of homes and shelters for battered women. It would be like the McDonald's of shelters for battered women." (I kid you not, she actually said that!) She said, "I'm tired of fooling with Bush and them Republicans. I done emailed him, mailed him letters, and he ain't sent me nary a response. I just emailed Obama yesterday and I was hoping he'd get back to me before the inauguration."

Upon looking at her closer, I noticed that her "cell phone" didn't have any back on it... no cell, no battery either. It was just a frame. If she has been emailing President Elect Barack Obama on that phone, I doubt that he'll be getting back to her anytime soon. Maybe that's why Bush didn't get back to her either! Okay, At this point, you realize that I understood that this woman was out of her mind so, I backed up.

There was another sister at the ATM machine who must have heard the entire conversation. She was cracking up... laughing and banging her hand on the side of the machine. I looked at her and said, "She's crazy but, she doesn't look crazy." The sister looked at me and said, "So, what does crazy look like? She's here everyday, talking out of her head like that and she gets men to hand over twenty dollars or more to her. She must stay somewhere because she's always clean and dressed nice. I wonder if she really is crazy or if you guys are the ones who are crazy for talking to her and giving her money."

I have to admit... the sister had a point!