conversations on assembly

USC is nestled quite beautifully in downtown columbia, which makes for a lovely drive across the river and for a very interesting walk up to my office from the institute building where i park (for free...thank you USC institute).

walking up assembly this morning (see photo above), i was stopped by a couple of homeless guys. this is not an unusual occurrence; i'm used to having people stop me and ask for my loose change, but today, i had some unique conversations with downtown columbia's finest.

first conversation...about 2 minutes into my walk up to campus went just like this:

homeless guy #1: "hey sweetie, can i ask you a sports question?"

me: "a sports question? sure."

homeless guy #1: "who do you think is going to win the big game between...uh...the green bay packers and the...um...pittsburgh steelers?"

me: "well, i hope that green bay wins, but i think the steelers might pull it out."

homeless guy #1: "AHAHAHAHAHA. (walking away, talking to homeless guy #2) did you just hear what she said?"

i continued up assembly, giggling at the interaction.

second conversation...about 15 seconds later, another homeless guy holding hands with his girl came walking up to me:

homeless guy #3: "heeey hunny. damn, girl, you are fiiiiiiiiiine."

me: (without stopping) "uh, thanks?"

i laughed the whole way up to my building. it was like being on candid camera.

third conversation...on the walk back to my car, anna and i were approached by another homeless man:

homeless guy #4: "hey ladies! you are both looking beeeeeaaauuuutiful today."

me and anna: speechless.

now, i recognize that my interactions with the homeless is somewhat limited, but these were some of the coolest conversations i've ever had with homeless individuals. i'm thinking maybe it was homeless outreach day or something. so, this is an official shout out to the homeless people of downtown columbia: thanks for making my day.