Random Buenos Aires

Random experience of the day… (Maybe this should be a new feature on the Nomad Chronicles? Weird stuff certainly happens here all the time.)

On the bus today, going to meet my friend C. for lunch at our (my?) fave pizza place (Romario, for those in the know), there was a guy singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Singing it over and over (he seemed to only know the chorus and part of a verse, which, to be fair, is more than I know), and loud enough that I could hear him, and recognize the song, from a few feet away. Besides the fact that singing out loud on the bus is generally a little odd, I also found his choice of song rather strange. I couldn’t quite tell what anyone else’s reaction was, but I have heard that Argentines don’t generally like the Evita musical, so I assumed they weren’t too into it. Lucky for me, we got off the bus at the same stop, and for a few blocks he was walking the same direction as I was (or following me?!) and I got to “enjoy” his singing a little longer. And then while I was waiting for C. outside the restaurant, another guy walked past, singing out loud – but the words were indistinguishable, and he had headphones on, which somehow made the activity seem a bit more reasonable.

This reminded me of a woman I was sitting across from at a café last year, who appeared perfectly “normal” except that she was laughing and muttering to herself. I realized that her behavior made me feel uncomfortable, then wondered if it wasn’t actually kind of sad that society generally believes that the person sitting quietly, acting serious and “put together,” is better off than the one laughing and having a good time, even if they’re all alone. Why is it that singing in the shower is “okay” and singing on the bus isn’t?

Advertisement