69th Street Station, Philadelphia

69th St Station in Philadelphia is a majot hub of the SEPTA system. If you want to take Center City Public Transportation out to the Philly suburbs to must pass through 69th street and transfer to a different line.

Standing in the middle of this Mayhem are the 'Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints' people. I pass them every morning as they lean against the walls holding out their religeous tracts that say 'AWAKE!' on them. They dont approach anyone and sometimes will say 'Good Morning' and smile.

The young black women who hand out tracts are usually in their 30's and they group together and chat in hushed tones with one arm extended. They are polished and dressed like they are going to church in the South. Long floral dresses, simple jewelry, sometimes hats.

The black men who are here are in their 50's and look well feed but not fat. They look like people who worked hard their entire lives but never lost the ability to be gentle to their neighbor. I'm reminded of my Grandfather how they hold themselves solidly. They have suspenders and yellow straw hats. They have gold watches and pressed slacks. I imagine if you hugged one of them they would smell nice. I dont know anything about their religeon, but I like these people, especially since they dont talk to me.

There's another religeous group that recruits in the station. The Scientologists set up table and offer 'Free Stress Screenings'. The tables are manned by young white men in Polo shirts. The have Bio-Feedback machines and stacks of Scientology books.

I want to sit down for a stress test and ask them questions about Tom Cruise as if I'm really interested, except I'll keep mistakenly calling him Tom Select. As they sell their religeon, I'd ask if 'Goose' from TopGun was a Scientologist too. I'd tell them that I would be very good for Scientology as I got Straight A's in Science. I'd want to know what their favorite Tom Select movie was, if they ever met him,or slept with him. When they get frustrated I could switch to John Travolta..he's a wacko too, theres tons of material here.....