Do You Have Any White Paint? (the belt)

October 6, 2017

This week I have been downtown this week painting for Elevate 2017. Every day many people make comments or say things that make me laugh. Some say things that make me scratch my head and wonder what they meant. Some ask me if I can paint their studio or paint a Falcons logo on their apartment wall. One lady asked if her 14 year old daughter could help. She said she was related to Andre 3000. I get many requests and everyone is very serious about it. One man asked if I could paint for his Halloween Party. Everyone wants me to help them paint something. I appreciate that.

Yesterday a man rolled up to me on a bike and mumbled a mouth full of words. I couldn’t understand him so I asked him to try again. Still no good. A lot of mumbled words. Hmmmm. I did pick out a few words and realized he was asking if I had any white paint. I think he also said he “wanted to paint his belt.”

At the moment I was having a somewhat tense situation with my wife and our elderly dog. My wife was upset and I didn’t know why. My dog was old and kooky and I kind of know why. I told the man on the bike with the mumble mouth that perhaps he could come back later. He rolled away.

A little while later the mumbling man showed up again. I found out his name was Reggie. Reggie was an older skinny tall fella, nicely dressed but in need of a fresh painted belt. I stopped what I was doing and helped him realize his dreams. It was kind of a fun moment— a special moment.

We got out the glossy white paint and some cardboard scraps. I laid it all out on the dirty dusty ground. I handed him a brush. He went right work. The next thing you know we had fresh white belt! I told him to hang it from the tree to dry.

Reggie seemed to have plenty of flexibility in his schedule and it was very hot in the afternoon sun so I figured this would be a quick fix. Just a little while and all would be dry. Suddenly he announced that he had to go! He asked if I had a plastic bag to put the wet white painted belt in. I found him one in the back of our van and soon he was riding away. Reggie and his fresh belt had left the scene. Bye Reggie.

You sure have some interesting interactions when you paint on a concrete wall along the downtown city street.

Photos by Maria Brooks

see you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks





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