You don't often run into
strangers more than once in
Las Vegas. During the
summer it's
too damn hot outside for most normal people to just hang out and interact. By the time winter rolls around, you've already gained the
habit of getting to were you're going as fast as you can with as few
detours as necessary. Vegas isn't really a friendly place.
See the lights, leave your money, get out.
But I'm the kind of guy that pays attention to what's going on around me. When I’m driving down the road, I look to the right and the left, instead of the narrow focus of my
air-conditioned destination.
On occasion I see this guy. I have never heard him speak, and have never interacted with him, so I feel a little
guilty about the person I imagine he is. He reminds me of one of those, "
undeveloped" adults. The guy must be at least 35, but his stature and actions suggest that
he possesses the faculties of a child. He has that slouched wander walk and the big, wide open and confused eyes.
The reason I remember him so clearly, is because no matter how hot it gets, he's always dressed like a
cowboy. Not a real range worker, or one of the later day
anti-hero's that we've come to expect these days. He dresses like a cowboy out of some twisted halcyon days remembrance of a
republic serial.
His enormous, white,
ten gallon hat, casts a cooling shadow over his vacant stare. His red
double breasted cowboy shirt and stiff pressed jeans tucked snuggly into his ornamental and pointy
cowboy boots would be enough to kill a normal man when the
mercury soars above 105
F. And yet it must not bother him, for I often see him wearing a
jacket as well, sometimes even a vest.
The strangest part though is that I always see him in the vicinity of a
bus stop. It wouldn't be so odd if I saw him at the same bus stop, but it seems that no matter where I go in the valley, I'm bound to see this guy. I've seen him multiple times in a day at different ends of the
city. If I were a superstitious person I would think him to be one of the inconsistencies in the
government plot to record my actions, some sort of X-fileish after effect of the
alien invasion. I'm sure
the truth is much more mundane. I speculate that he's just one of those people who like to dress up like
movie cowboys and ride
public transportation all day.