The Coming Apocolypse

I think my appreciation for freaks has increased exponentially ever since I started this blog. It is a well known mathematical fact that freaks = interesting blog topics. It is also a well known fact (though I don’t think math related - however I suppose population numbers could be tabulated, computed, and examined to come up with some sort of ratio) that Los Angeles is chalk full of lots of freaks.

Today I ran into one of them while I was out running some errands. He was a black man who had painted his face white, and he was standing on the street corner holding a sign that read, “Prepare For The Coming Apocolypse…Will You Be Saved?”

He was shaking this sign towards the people driving in their cars as they passed him by, and occassionally someone would honk their horn.

I wondered whether or not those honking were hoping to encourage or discourage him and his message. Probably a mixture of both, along with people who were just praying that he wasn’t going to jump in front of their car and kill himself (at least that’s what I would have been thinking if I was in the car driving).

As it were, I was on foot, so not only was I privelaged enough to witness the spectacle, but I also had the opportunity to hear him shouting as well (though presumably his shouting was loud enough to be heard even if you were in the car - depending on the volume you keep your music, and the state of your windows).

He was pretty much sticking to the basics, nothing too creative for his shouting, mostly just “Repent!” “Jesus Saves!” “The End Is Coming!” “There Will Be Hell On Earth!” “The Dead Shall Rise Once Again!” and combinations of any/all of the above. Basically all the standards from the religious fanatic’s go to playbook of street corner preaching.

When I saw him I was very tempted to try and approach to snag a picture of him, as well as to inquire about what significance (if any) his face being painted white had, but after a brief moment of contemplation I thought better of it and instead just continued on my way into Rite-Aid.

When I got out he was no longer there, so I suppose I’ll never know. It’s probably better this way.