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Pete

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Pete, originally uploaded by pdxsurreal.
[I originally posted this photo on Flickr last fall, but wanted to post it here as well.]
Happy hour is one of the greatest things ever invented. Where else can you gather with strangers over confidence-boosting beverages at reasonable prices? People fascinate me, so watching how people interact is a favorite pastime of mine. Recently, while indulging at an Alberta Street happy hour, I met Pete. Pete was waiting for a bus, and was initially a little hesitant to join our table. Eventually, though, he ordered himself a Hennessy and sat down. He showed us scars--one on his scalp, and one on his leg; reminders of the life he has lived. The tattoos all had stories, but he declined to delve into the specifics of the teardrops. He admitted that he'd like to work with kids someday, but that getting out of the life he was in was easier said than done. I was torn between genuine curiosity and the desire to be respectful; I didn't want to ask the wrong question, or be too inquisitive of a life I knew nothing about. Several Hennessys and a game of pool later, Pete had to leave. Proud of his affiliations, he threw his sign, and posed for this picture.