Mannequin in Osaka, Japan

People are always asking me for directions and I take pride in it. One morning I was pointing a girl to the 6 train – she was cute, one of those long-limbed and sharp-angled runway types that knew how to smile. But I was just giving directions, which is something I take seriously.

“You want to go three blocks over to Centre Street and then make a right and it’s about two blocks up.” It was crowded on the sidewalk, but two guys stopped right next to us – guys pushing thirty but still wearing baseball hats and shorts and ridiculous sneakers. The tall one put a hand to his mouth, scanned the girl, and said, “Yeah baby, I would hit that.” His buddy popped up, cocked his hand like a gun, and said, “To the maximum!”

I thought about taking a swing at them, but I’m not that foolish or brave. I just mumbled something about staying classy and the girl forced another smile and carried on. I watched her go and it hit me that women put up with this sort of thing everyday. Maybe it’s awful, maybe it’s fun sometimes. I wouldn’t know. But I spent the rest of the day feeling embarrassed about being a man.

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Sweet N Candy – Dead Between the Ears
(from Dead Between the Ears. Dumb Unit, 2005)
Great buzzy bassline on this one. Berlin’s Rico Henschel has been kicking out high class and bottom-heavy tracks under this odd moniker for five years. See also 2007’s The Wicked Keeper EP on District of Corruption.