Perry's Pen

Today I took the 11 bus up Bayview to take advantage of advance voting in the by-election in my ward in Toronto. It was a sunny Sunday, and the Buffalo Bills game didn’t start until 4:00 PM, so why not?

Voting took less than 5 minutes, much less. It took longer to walk across the street to catch the southbound bus back home.

Some guy mildly annoyed me as I boarded the bus as I scanned for an empty seat because he was half blocking the aisle.

Busking on the Bayview Bus

Once we started moving, I noticed that the front half of “Mr. Aisle Blocker’s” pants were covered in sequins. Snazzy!

Slowly raising my eyes, I noticed that he had a harp on his lap. It was about 3 feet in height and looked brand new. The harp wasn’t fancy, and I thought that it may have been built from a “harp kit” picked up at IKEA or something.

The next thing I know, the harpist plays the first 12 notes or so of Amazing Grace. And it didn’t sound half bad!

That was when I noticed that his hands were like a mechanics – they looked dirty/greasy, and it was clear he had been doing some manual labour. Maybe those are what harpist hands look like?

Was that “Buffalo Bill” on the Bayview Bus?

Before long Harpeux started speaking French. Not a monologue, but like he was having a conversation with someone. I couldn’t tell if he had an earpiece or not, so the person on the other end of the conversation could have been real or imagined.

Was the harp player on his way to entertain the troops?

He’d point out and describe buildings that we were going by. When he started talking about Sunnybrook Veterans Centre, I thought “Maybe he is on his way to entertain those who we owe so much?”

Nope, Harpeux stayed on the bus and told whoever was on the other end of his conversation (and the entire bus) about how he helped install the railing at CNIB as we went by.

Every once in a while, his conversation would be accentuated with those same 12 notes of Amazing Grace.

Was it political performance art?

At one point Harpeux seemed to be agitated. I think he was discussing politics briefly and he may have mentioned Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.  

I dunno! Harpeux could have been on his way to a Halloween party, but on a Sunday? Maybe he was just another homeless person with mental health issues. Where was he coming from, where was he going to? He continued on the Bayview bus after I got off at Eglinton, so I assume he continued on and got on the subway going downtown. Who knows?

  Amazing grace, indeed!

^{*The Buffalo Bills would defeat the Seattle Seahawks 31-10 on this day.}