Streetalk January 15 2004

Clayton: You can smoke in a bar where it’s nice and comfortable without going outside like in New York. In New York, you have to leave your drink inside to go smoke your cigarette outside. You have to go out and freeze your ass off every time you want to have a smoke. And it’s hard to light your cigarette with gloves on. In New York, the first time it’s a novelty smoking outside cold, but then you give up on smoking and stay inside.

Theresa: There’s always something to do and you don’t have to wear a winter coat, especially when you go shopping in the malls. It doesn’t shut down like it does in Chicago. Have you ever seen a little kid in Chicago walking? They look like little Pillsbury Doughboys. Arms are out like a 300-pound woman walking down a street. All stuffed up. Caps on, scarves around their faces, they get hit by a car and they bounce around and get back up.

Christian: There’s less chaos in the streets. Every time when the spring rolls around, you see all the crazies come out of the woodwork. Right now it’s just too cold. I don’t have to be exposed to so much misery. I’ve got enough of my own misery to deal with. I get up at 4:30 in the morning to come to a job that I love, but I don’t get up at 4:30 in the morning to give away cigarettes and change. It makes Atlanta in the winter nice. And fewer gutter punks. They go to New Orleans or Tampa in the winter. They disappear. That’s good too.