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user-inactivated  ·  3426 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The December Photo Challenge, Day 2: "Identity"  ·  

https://flic.kr/p/puiCvX

I hope my interpretation of this is in line but anyways here's the story associated with the photo. This man, this photo, this adventure the photo represents is a defining point in my coming of age or symbolic of me maturing I guess. Before taking this I had dropped out of college a few months prior, kicked a bad weed habit, gotten a decent paying job where I wasn't dependent upon my parents for help here and there, and I had saved up money for a road trip up to Montana from Tucson to see a very close friend of mine. The night before I made a quick stop in Santa Fe before heading to Taos to camp out for the night and when I got back into my truck after filling up on gas, it just shit the bed. The radiator developed a hole sometime during the drive there and the serpentine belt had seized. I was furious to say the least, I just could not handle the situation. I ended up sleeping in the back of my truck at the gas station until AAA could pick me up in the morning to bring me to a mechanic in town. (Not to mention the following day was a Sunday) So that Sunday morning after finding an open shop I walked into Downtown Santa Fe, in what was a freezing cold rain relative to Arizona, still fuming mad looking for a decent cup of coffee this gentleman stopped me asking for a few bucks or cigarettes. I didn't have any cash on me so I popped into the nearest convenience store, grabbed a cheap pack, and sat down to smoke a stoge with him. To be honest, I don't know why I decided to buy a pack for him or why I decided to smoke with him but I did. It's not something I would usually do. And I don't know what it was that we talked about that completely changed my mind but it did. He talked me down and he kind of just made me realize how childish I was being and how ridiculous my attitude was when I was in a beautiful city full of art which I was and still am a huge fan of. Just made me realize that shitty situations happen and I need to make the best of them. So we finish our conversation and I ask the man what his name is but he wouldn't tell me; all he said was "Take a picture of me and name it 'A Quarter and Five Children'". So that's what I did and that's how I remember this guy. From then on really I feel like I've changed my attitude on life completely and if I could go back and find this man to thank him I would. So this photo is the new me, what I associate with in a weird way.

Sorry for the wall of text and a story that may not even fit this challenge (and a little personal at that) but I thought it a good moment to share.