17 November 2008

82nd avenue



everyday, I drive by the car dearlerships on 82nd avenue. everyday, there are balloons. always, every single day. rain or shine. hundreds of them attached to cars, to the tops of chain link fences, to the entrances and exits. to anything and everything, hovering and swaying as the people pass by, totally oblivious to our indifference. they are indefatigable. and okay, a little needy. but that's the thing about balloons. they don't really care how they look.

yesterday, after months and months of driving past said dealerships, I finally decided to stop. I settled on the dealership with the red and yellow balloons. I don't know why but I think it might be my favorite. did you know, there's really no good way to sneak into a car dealership? not in the middle of the day when they're open for business and all six salesmen are standing outside looking for something to do. the plan was to sidle up along the outside and shoot on the sly. no such luck. I was something like ten feet from the entrance and hidden behind a mess of chain link fence (or so I thought) when I saw them coming. omg they're going to kick me off the property! but I'm not even on their property, I thought. technically, I'm standing on the sidewalk and everyone knows the sidewalk belongs to the city. everyone knows the sidewalks are fair game. or something like that. so then I was all set to defend myself and as non-confrontational as I usually am, I was ready for a fight. until I saw smiles. big smiles, white smiles, both of them coming right at me. oh okay, they're going to try to sell me a car. which was exactly what I was hoping to avoid. people, I am no good in this sort of situation. this is because I have been known to give salesmen a false sense of hope.

as it turned out, they just wanted to be in the picture and maybe engage in some harmless flirting. fortunately, these are things I can handle. plus, I had all kinds of questions about the balloons. lucky for me, oscar (whom I'm pretty sure was the owner) was full of answers. oscar, where do all these balloons come from? you are relentless with all the balloons. how do you do it? how do you do this every single day? this must be costing you a fortune. is this costing you a fortune? well, it's our thing, oscar said. we put them out everyday, take them down, pop them all every night and start over in the morning. then he took out his phone and showed me a picture he'd taken earlier that day. he'd strung the balloons up one by one until they disappeared into the sky, little red and yellow dots punctuating an endlessly bright blue sky. that oscar, he was beaming. he said that if I came back in the morning, he'd string them up again, just like that, just for me. better yet, he'd gather them all up in one enormous bunch. because that's something to see, he said. that's a picture you'll want to take. spoken like a true salesman. I'll admit, this charmed me to no end and if I'd had the cash, I might have purchased a used car and driven it off the lot right then and there. but oscar walked away and left me and my polaroid to the business of taking photographs.

oscar, I never got the chance to tell you how much I appreciated you leaving me and my camera alone like that. and hey oscar? I love the balloons. everyday, I love them.

p.s. portland peoples, if you need to buy a car, I have just the place. also, oscar is single and looking.

44 comments:

  1. your story made me smile just like your balloons polaroid did. thanks

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  2. LOL. I can just see this happening--makes me laugh louder.

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  3. charming, oh so charming. the story (you rock, writer girl), the pics...i am levitating.

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  4. That is hilarious. 82nd is covered in car lots and delicious chinese restaurants. You hit it on the nail, there are so many times I see things and think, that'd make a lovely photograph but for not looking weird, I do not stop and take a luxury snapshot. Poos on me!
    Good for you!

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  5. that story totally warmed my heart... thanks for sharing :)

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  6. Love the story. Love the balloons. Love the colors...the colors of my alma mater. Go Bearcats!

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  7. This story just made my day - and trust me , I needed it.

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  8. only you my sweet friend, only you.

    great story. now the next question, did you get a shot of oscar for your strangers project?

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  9. what a great story. i was driving on 82nd on my way to pho van on saturday and i thought i missed it because it's buried amongst all of those car dealerships...
    i love your photos and the stories behind them!

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  10. ok...you are now officially the magic lady who can make a used car dealership sparkle with goodness.

    oh! if you're ever in the mood for vietnamese and happen to be on 82nd, try pho van for some pho soup that will take your taste buds on a ride...plus they have a vintage vespa in the restaurant and lots of booths. there are a few pho van's in town (all the same owner) but the one on 82nd is our favorite.

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  11. love that story...my husband and i have a running joke about balloons and car dealerships (we've 'decided' to only buy from ones with lots of balloons because if they've got the balloon thing going on then they are dedicated...as oscar proved). xoxo

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  12. I would LOVE to see the string of balloons disappearing into the stratosphere! That really is a salesman, he sold me a dream, through you, all the way to here in SF. And I hope you get a chance to capture it. Lovely post. And nice use of "indefatigable."

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  13. so sweet. and sounds like magic, salesman magic!

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  14. Loved this slice of americana. Poor guys in the failing auto industry. And your balloon shot is gorgeous!

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  15. what a fantastic story!

    like you, i've always been drawn to those lots of balloons upon balloons. i've driven by a ton of times with camera in tow, but afraid to stop because of the toothy salesman swarm.

    maybe, because of your good luck, i may just gather the courage to stop. i hope i'm met with an oscar.

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  16. oh my goodness. i have a strange addiction to balloons. they are good, they are bad, they make me happy. what a great story and thanks heaps for sharing!

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  17. I have this mental picture of Oscar in my mind. If the movie comes out, I will have to change it. :)
    I was driving past a car lot with my mother, who said, and I thought it strange and random at the time, "I'm so glad people still use balloons! They're just happy!" Now I remember her saying that.

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  18. oh, man, we don't have dedicated car dealerships like that here in Florida... they just rent one of those oversized gorillas, or sumo wrestler balloons, and that's it. No balloon flurries, or strings into the sky.

    I'm going to have to drive to Portland to buy a car from Oscar now. Because you have made me love him. :)

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  19. "There are always flowers there for those who want to see them." Henri Matisse

    Replace flowers with balloons...or car salesmen...

    ;-)

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  20. That was the sweetest story ever. I almost got tears in my eyes!

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  21. What a good story that was. Thanks! I guess I always thought that the balloons at places like that were from some balloon company. But if it's cuties like Oscar showing daily dedication to the balloon cause, I have another think coming.

    jbhat

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  22. *sigh*
    That was a terrific story!
    I bet they are having a tough time with the economy the way it is... it was probably nice to see you and talk about balloons for a change.
    =)

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  23. Thank you for sharing that story! It made my day, made me smile!

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  24. Love the balloons and the story behind them! I am a new visitor to your blog...and I have been having fun reading through your archieves! So much inspiration and I am a mom of two young boys so I can so relate to so very much. I love your 100 Things Love post so much... I am going to do just that on my blog tomorrow. Hope you don't mind!

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  25. What a brilliant little post. You're such a good writer. Love the photo too.

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  26. omg i love this post AND oscar! i too did the drive through to shoot balloons once cause i just couldn't take it anymore. and the shot i love, no oscar bum rushed me though, now i kind wished they did.

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  27. We used to live in Salem and I worked in Portland. I know exactly where you are talking about on 82nd. This makes me happy to remember. Thank you so much.


    I'm wondering.... Did you snap Oscar for your stranger project?

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  28. What a great story. I love balloons. Funny how kids seem to spot them on instinct.

    Oh, and your interior shots on CafeMom are just beautiful. Found them by way of Ali Edwards.

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  29. this is really, really wonderful.

    i love your words, your tone, how you wrote about this. it is almost like you are sharing a story over tea and that makes me so happy when i feel that way while reading a blog post.

    happy wednesday to you!

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  30. this is hilarious. it's always so reassuring when you're nervous about getting a shot, and then people get excited for you and it turns out well. it's confidence building!

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  31. this story rocks.
    my socks off.

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  32. Nice story, made me smile.
    PS love your blog

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  33. love this story!

    i DO need a used car!

    and this will seem totally stalker-ish, i was at a mason jennings show at the wonder ballroom a few weeks ago. i thought i saw ward. i didn't see you (i only know you and ward from your blog and photos). i almost went over to him and asked if he was ward and was going to go on about how i love your blog and photos and yadda yadda. but it wasn't ward at all.

    in another stalker moment, i saw you pass by my table at the art and soul sale night. you were with kelly rae, who i also love but do not know in real life.

    so andrea, thank you for your wonderful words and images. a bright spot always.

    meesh

    http://www.michelegoldstein.com

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  34. I love driving that part of 82nd! My kids love the balloons. They just think they are for someones birthday.
    Thank you for the nice story.

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  35. Ha ha, that's so funny! My husband started selling cars about 12 years ago. He worked his way up through closer, and finance manager and then to a sales manager...He used to HATE putting up the balloons! He would come home with nasty deep (paper cut like, but MUCH worse) cuts from the strings that he had gotten that morning tying up balloons. As a manager he used to have fun picking out the different colors to use for holidays and sales; but mostly I think he just liked telling someone else to go do it... My kids have always loved that he always bring a GIANT carload of them home to each of them on their birthdays.
    There are a few really great special car guys out there, lucky you found a few of them, and even luckier they left you alone to take pictures. I'm one of those that will randomly pull over and start taking snaps myself.

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  36. I wish I'd had more appreciation for the balloons when I lived over on 82nd. This is a lovely post.

    Kelsey: Crochet hooks can be used to tie balloons. I wish I had known that when I worked at Party City.

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  37. This man has inspired me to make a new weblog probably called (A Beautiful Day). A Man who makes that much effort to make things pretty deserves to be featured somewhere again!!!

    Thank you so much again for your inspiration... I will get in touch with more details when Im all set up....

    Carolinepanico@hotmail.co.uk

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  38. Hello there - do you live in Montavilla?

    I live in Mount Tabor but I am now on the bvoard of Montavilla where this car lot is located & we are looking to promote the neighborhood.
    Would love to talk to you about using this photo & others to help promote the beauty of our communities...
    BTW - Oscar is great we had a march this past Sept to take back 82nd from crime & Oscar sent his staff, a helium tank & tons of yellow & red balloons for all of the kids!!! Good peeps.

    Please email me: liz.mom@gmail.com

    peace + love, Liz

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  39. this is the raddest. post. ever. :-)

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  40. Having just discovered you - it was the perfect saturday morning treat to read your stories and adore the polaroids.

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