Pre-Umbrella Project Interviews for Linguistics Class

Pig-Pen

Pigpen was my first interview. When I first saw his he was looking at glass pipes in a store on 4^th Ave. He supports himself by playing the harmonica or asking for money. He had a long Mohawk and many piercings—ears, the tissue above his nose, the cartilage on the inside of his nose, his eyebrow, his tongue, a Prince Albert (he told me).

Originally, Pigpen was from Emporia, Kansas. As a young adult he had lived with his girlfriend and supported for by working for Tyson. He worked on a factory assembly line where his only job was to hit this rod with a hammer. The rod was driven into the side of a cow’s head and the cow would drop dead. Pigpen said that the job really affected him. “I just killed 800 cows today.” The girlfriend he supported through this horrific job left him because of the robotic state the job left him in.

Pigpen decided to leave Emporia and begin traveling by hitchhiking. He was arrested in Tucson for marijuana possession and had been released the day I met him from 20 days in isolation in the psych-ward. Pigpen was grateful to have someone to talk to and hugged my friend, Jen, and me when we left.

Almundi

I met an African American gentleman who had just gotten to Tucson from a bus from El Paso, TX. Almundi was probably in his late 50s, dressed in jeans, a jacket and a baseball cap. He told me that Almundi means ‘messiah’. Almundi said that on Judgment Day, he would be the man on the white horse. During our conversation, Almundi would recite verses from Revelations about Judgment Day—the end of days. I asked Almundi what religion he is of; he’s Muslim. We ended up praying together. By the end of our talk I gave Almundi all the money I had on me. To be honest, I was kind of afraid he would be the guy on the white horse; I’m only half-kidding. He gave me his copy of the Koran—abound stack of printer paper.

When Almundi was in El Paso, he had a place to stay, but he decided to leave. I can’t remember if he left for warmer weather, a spiritual journey or what. He wasn’t sure where he would be staying his first night in Tucson. Almundi supports himself by singing on the street or asking for money.

Pugsy

When I met Pugsy, he was playing his guitar outside of the Surly Winch Pub. He was wearing patched overalls with stripes down the sides, a cadet cap, and a black hooded sweatshirt. Pugsy looked to be around 23 years old with a gentle face, light eyes, fare skin, and light strawberry blonde hair (and beard).

Although Pugsy had traveled all over the United States, he had spent the last few years in Hawaii. He had made it back to the mainland months earlier and had traveled south for a warmer winter. When he spoke, Pugsy was very articulate, relaxed and slow to speak. I think he was being cautious because he wasn’t sure what I wanted from him. He didn’t seem used to people stopping to have conversations with him.

Pugsy has an associate’s degree in Computer Sciences. He was kicked out of his parents’ house because he liked to smoke pot. When he talked about it, he seemed very frustrated because that was their only issue with him. He’s content traveling. “When it’s good, it’s really good; when it’s bad, it’s really bad.” Pugsy said as long as he can eat, drink, find a place to sleep and smoke pot, that’s all he needed.