A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum...

Okay, so I must live in one of the strangest places on the planet...

On my way home from a rather frustrating day at work (it's "a whole other Oprah", trust me), as I sat in the blistering heat of the LA commute, Sunset Blvd. It's usual slow crawl from the 101 west to La Brea, the potholes reminding me that I need to get air in the tires, and the general smells of the city - cigarettes, exhaust, and all varieties of nastiness. As I sat awaiting my turn to turn, I spied a man standing on the south-west corner of Sunset with a sign, printed on what looked to be heavy plastic (of the consistency of canvas).

"Ask jesus to forgive your sins now"

The "ask jesus" and "now" in red - the other words in black.

He stood holding the two corners of his plea, which I would say the banner was maybe 1m x 1m, showing it to the east-bound traffic, as it made it's way thru what has to be one of the worst intersections in the city.

No one seemed to be paying him attention. Just another pathetic plea for attention in a banner and billboard saturated metropolitan area - like any other in the United States.

No one perhaps, except me. I don't know why I cared - it's not like jesus has any relevance or place in my solidly Jewish life, except perhaps as sociological and societal contrast.

Then someone else caught my eye.

He stood waiting patiently for the light to change so he could continue along Sunset. Also east-bound. He was perhaps 2m from the man with the sign. He carried a black plastic bag - the kind that the video store puts porn in - the kind that the sex stores put lube and other goods of an "adult nature" in. The flimsy, and decidedly obviously-discrete kind of bag.

He was dressed in a white jumpsuit, open at the neck, sleeves pointed and studded, as were the legs and trunk of the outfit. His hair combed back, tho somewhat mussed after a day hard at work. The silver medallions around his neck caught the glint of the sun high overhead. Elvis, in all his glory.

I laughed out loud. Something I don't do terribly often - well, not when I am alone anyway. It had to be the strangest scene I had seen in a long time.

The light changed, the car behind me honked within an nano-second, and I made the turn, speeding away from the savior and the saved, homeward bound. Shaking my head, and wondering "whatever will I see next?"