Quantum Forest

Last evening I took a bus home, while reading Reason & Imagination, by Rafe Champion. By the way, Rafe’s book is quite readable considering that is dealing with Popper and Bartley’s philosophy.

The bus was starting its trip when a bus inspector jumped into it, and started explaining aloud that he was going to ask for our tickets (looking for fare evaders, of course). I was transported back to travelling by bus in Chile during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

After the 1982 recession in Chile, there was an explosion of the number of people working in buses: selling small things (like ice cream, combs and keyrings), playing music (there was even a guy playing a full size harp!), doing theatre, puppet shows, etc. At some stage around 25% of the Chilean economy was informal. In 1987 Electrodomésticos released a song entitled Señores pasajeros (part of the album ‘Carreras de éxitos’). The language is trite and baroque: creating a collection of clichés.

Señoras y señores pasajeros
tengan todos ustedes muy buenas tardes
en primer lugar
deseo expresarles
que es totalmente ajjjeno a mi voluntad
el molestarles, el incomodarles
o el perturbarles en el transcurso de vuestro viaje.

Una vez preclaro lo anteriormente dicho por el suscrito
solicito
vuestra infinita caridad
el immenso cariño del pueblo chileno
hacia el necesitado.

Les deseo desde el fondo de lo mas profundo de mi corazzzón
a todos ustedes y los suyos
que el futuro les depare toda clase de felicidadesss
y caigan sobre ustedes
todas las bendiciones del creador
asimismo como también
para el respetable señor conductor
de esta máquina
que tambien cumple una tarea importante
en nuestra ciudad, ciudad, ciudad.

Ajjjeno (ajeno), corazzzón (corazón) and felicidadesss (felicidades) are not typos, but Cabezas is playing with the pronunciation of bus buskers and peddlers.