Feeling the Junkie Energy

I was walking Jasper down the sidewalk towards Broadway in Sacramento this morning, smartly carrying my pooper scooper with me like a good citizen should, when I felt a sudden push from behind on the business end of the scooper. A man in a hoodie hurriedly pushed past both of us. Vibrating with intensity, he aimed for the convenience store. I could feel junkie energy radiating from him. I felt a bit embarrassed too, since I'm sure he must have gotten doggie doo on his hoodie. 

As Jasper and I approached the convenience store, the hoodie guy suddenly emerged from the store and approached us. He had strings of snot caught in his mustache and beard. He held up a cigarette lighter. "Do you have a cigarette?" he asked. I replied I didn't smoke. "Can you buy me a cigarette?" he asked. I replied I had no money on me. "Do you have ten dollars?" he asked. I shook my head. He seemed to be put off by my negative responses, and scurried away. 

Just then, a woman standing near the homeless encampment across the street started screaming at her legs. She quickly removed her pants. Fortunately she had a second layer of tights underneath - a necessity when sleeping outside in the cold these days. Still, she rolled her tights up, bent over, and continued screaming at her bare legs. It was quite unclear what the trouble was. 

Then Jasper started barking at imaginary squirrels under the nearby hedges. The screaming and barking continued. No one seemed fully in touch with reality. Maybe this is what comes from drinking coffee. Too much frenetic morning energy.