A Flash of Jazz - Art Festival

Truth be told, Daniel hated art. He hated seeing the artists dressed in clothes that showed both their so-called uncouth lifestyle as well as their desire to be accepted. His girlfriend of six months broke up with him because he claimed that her job of being a painter wasn't really a job. What's the big deal, he said during their last fight, with you and paint? It's not like it's a real talent. Nicole merely stood before him, staring down at her paint-stained hands, as tears fell from her eyes. How hard is it, Daniel vented on, to paint some strokes and lines and then charge someone $1200 for it?  Nicole left before he could do any further damage to her mental state. For the next three days, he sulked and drank cheap beer in his bare apartment, not wanting to think of her or anything that had to do with art. He was "in-between" jobs and therefore didn't care how his hours whittled away. He was one of those kinds of people who didn't care about anything - all they wanted was to live long enough and then die quietly. When he first met Nicole at a friend's party, he took one look at her and knew that he was in love. However, Nicole felt quite the opposite - when he proudly claimed that he'd only read five books in his life and that he couldn't remember any of the titles, she cringed inwardly. Yet, she took a chance on him because he had a winning smile and smelled like fresh linen. Now, as the sun set after their fight and her leaving, Daniel sat on the couch and stared at his second bottle of beer in his hands. He moved to a reclining position, finished his beer, and fell asleep out of sheer boredom. Such were his days and nights for a week until he received a tip about a part-time job that required little work or brainpower. Without even asking about the job, Daniel took it. He showed up the next day, wearing the requested outfit of jeans, black shirt, and comfortable shoes, at Rock Park. He parked his car and walked up to the front gate, only to groan as a young woman wearing a hippie styled flower dress and holding a clipboard bounced up to him and introduced herself as Nina. You must be one of the cleaners for the art festival, she beamed with a smile that was truly genuine. He slowly nodded his head and then followed her through the gates and into the festival. Daniel watched artists on either side of him setting up their booths, conversing with their booth neighbours over cups of coffee, tea, and fruit juices, or just hanging out and watching the crew and volunteers get ready for the day. Nina stopped by a small booth to pull out a large burlap bag and hand it to Daniel. All we want, she said in that same happy go lucky tone, is for you guys to walk around and make sure that all trash is picked up. Look for me around 6pm to pick up your pay and you can take a lunch break around 3. Before Daniel could tell her that he'd changed his mind, she bounced off to meet up with another trash picker. Daniel stared at the bag in his hands and sighed. So much for just sitting around and drinking beer, he thought as he began his crawl through the now open festival. Within ten minutes, he, along with three others near him, began picking up the discarded trash of the festivalgoers, those who were here to purchase art and make messes that didn't concern them. He stopped to pick up a paper bowl covered in the remnants of almost glowing yellow cheese, then stood up to see Nicole talking with several people in a booth filled with her artwork. He stared at her for several seconds, hoping that she would see him. Instead, she continued talking with people while pulling down sold paintings from her booth wall to be wrapped up. She laughed a lot, both with her mouth and her eyes. He moved on while a trail made of regret followed him. I really hate art, he thought to himself as a young hipster couple walked by him, oblivious. 

Jazz album background - Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker: Bird and Diz