On the RD

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The early sun stares at me as I crawl along the 78. Motorist swerve and brows dip. A timecard awaits as a boss stands stiff in a window overlooking an empty parking lot. My eyes wander as my mind organizes the day’s tasks. Projects nag as greater ideas brew. My mind steeps in a stew of creativity, but battles the idea of throbbing florescent lights and the dry chill of an uncontrollable air-conditioner. The radio’s advertisements hound and the passenger window whistles. Today is yesterday and tomorrow is…

A rut jolts my mind as my truck safely cruises. An idea, high on the embankment, screams towards the passing commuters. My eyes attentively hear the fearful cries of an unacknowledged thought. My neck snaps and my head turns to experience the site of two large letters boldly painted high above the highway.

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As the flow of traffic carries me past this early morning jewel, I pounder its meaning. Is it a mysterious acronym or a hurried abbreviation? Why was this location picked? How was it executed without attention from the constant stream of passing eyes? As I become connected with a stranger’s thoughts, I notice another RD sprayed in gray. As my head returns to its normal driving position, I spot yet another RD sprayed in black. The remaining curves and stretches shout at me withrd-fence.jpg at least 20 more RD’s. Visions of hooded hoodlums leaping out of shadows enter my mind. Stereotypes are for the single minded and I picture an angry mother frantically sprinting through the dark streets of the nights spraying the initials of a son lost to war or a spiteful businessman spreading slander of a deal gone bad.

What is your explanation?

1 Response to “On the RD”


  1. 1 Dan Schonberg Mar 14th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    Its not always bad to stereotype. That doesnt make one racist. We all know it was not a mother memorializing her son. We all know it was hooded hoodlums. However, the question I ask is why do the taggers tag. I believ that in their mind, tagging is their way of keeping society from reverting to a “phonytopia” such as we had in the 50s (leave it to beaver etc). It keeps the city urban to them. I also have thought that its a way for the tagger to remind the rich that the poor are still here and life is far from perfect which may be a good message. Me? I think we can make these points some other way. I think tagging is a major eyesore that has ruined new york city.

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