There's a Man on the Roof of the Hotel

across from the parking lot from my building. i'm just spitballing here but I'd guess he's just a shade under 6 feet and he carries a big frame. he's got a beard that can be seen easily from 100 yards and he's got a stocking cap on tight on his head. no fancy designs or stripes or colors to speak of. beige and brown and some blue jeans that are the very definitiion of windstripped. right now in new york there is a man holding a tiny puntable dog in his arms and yelling at someone on the dye team because they have failed for the 19th time this week to match this weatherworn look. i'm sure we'll see the results in a few months at the gap. i am nonplussed. the man on the roof is up there ostensibly for some maintenance work. he's not a window cleaner and he's not working on any of the many satellite dishes that rest atop the building. so, unless he's someone who just likes to spend a few hours on top of a hotel in january in minnesota i'm guessing he's working on something maintenancy that is out of my view. occasionally others stop by. they never bring tools or where a toolbelt or in any way convey tools from one location to another. there is only one access to the roof. so whatever it is that they do, they do it with their hands and their minds. i'm fascinated. i don't know anything about this guy and frankly, if i saw him at street level i wouldn't even notice him, even after writing about him like this. being on top of a hotel makes everyone seem a little cooler. i once spent a sunrise on top of one of the hiltons (the hotel not the socialites) in vegas. watching hendrixes purple haze cover the desert. i definitely feel cool when atop a hotel. so what's the maintenance guy doing up there? what's his life story? how did he get such a sweet gig working on top of hotels for a living? that's the life for me. nothing scary like those depression-era guys working for peanuts and risking life and limb going up to build the skyscrapers in new york or bridges in california. just walking around like a normal person 20 floors up. that's better than what i do for a living. that's living right there. even on the cold days you have to feel alive right? why does this guy do this sort of thing? maybe he has a troubled past. maybe he loves the sky but is afraid to fly. i dunno. that's not the point though. he's only 100 yards away and yet it seems like miles. he can sit down and lean against the ductwork and watch the planes come into the airport and feel the wind and sit up above all the exhaust smells and just be. so close and yet so far. the door's open. i could go over there and, with some timing and a little guile, make my way onto the hotel roof for a bit. i have no idea what i'd do up there but i think i'd enjoy it. maybe i could talk to the guy and find out what's interesting about him. maybe this is the coolest thing he does in his life and he thinks it's boring. maybe he went to high school with jeffrey dahmer and he gets the shakes every time he thinks about it so he works in an environment where if you're not paying attention you could fall to your death. that's what i'm going with. something strange like that. i hope he's interesting. there has been a complete and total lack of random nudity out of the hotel windows and the only thing that could make that place interesting is if the roof maintenance guy used to go to highschool with a serial killer. sad, but true. i'm an american, if i can't have nudity i would like to infer some past violence or something. call me crazy.