Sunday afternoon randoms

People are funny, and you can see them do some pretty silly things if you watch them long enough. In my 3 minute walk from the Church Street parking Garage to the coffee shop a block away i stopped no less than twice in wonder at the performances being acted out by some unfortunate soul who, though really not doing anything more embarrassing than me on my best days, had the poor luck of carrying out their act in front of an audience. maybe that's the appeal of people watching. though i know I'm just as prone to being in a daze or tripping over a gum rapper it feels good so see other people struggle too. Everyone is awkward if you watch them long enough.

It will never case to amaze me the of confusion that confronts people at the grocery store check-out and the parking garage. as if the act of swiping a credit card or pushing a button for a parking ticket is akin to translating hieroglyphics by candle light after a third martini. And while most of us solve the puzzle rather quickly we've all watched the person in front of us squint their eyes and break out in a cold sweat as they push random keys in hopes that eventually they'll get the right combination. The parking garage is pretty straight forward. you pull up to the entry and are confronted with an illuminated, flashing button with the picture of a ticket on it. push the button, retrieve your receipt, and proceed to doing battle with everyone else circling the garage like vultures in search of that perfect place to park. Sundays, on the other hand, are a whole different story. Parking is free and not only are there no tickets to retrieve, the gate that usual blocks entry into the garage is raised. If it weren't for the enormous speed bump you could drive right in a full speed. And just to make sure even the most unconvinced among us know it's free, a big sign is posted next to the entry announcing the fact. So you can imagine how entertained i was as i left the garage only to encounter a line of cars backed up behind some poor sap who was pushing the bottom repeatedly trying to extract a ticket that would never come. forget the sign, or the open gate, or the fact that the blinking light had been turned off, none of it seemed to do much convincing. Smiling to myself I continued on my way as someone from one of the other cars politely walked up to the offending driver's window and informed him that he could proceed. Of course i have a problem lately with coming to a stop at green lights on busy streets because I'm not always good at paying attention, so who am i to judge right?

Having rounded the corner and started my walk down church street I encountered an awkward looking gentleman on a recumbent bicycle. I should mention he would have been awkward without the funny looking bike but the combination of the two just made it so much more obvious (I've not given it much thought, but i imagine that as many people look like their pets they also resemble their modes of transportation). If you aren't familiar with recumbent they're the bikes that are ridden by sitting down as if in a lazy boy and pedaling with your legs out in from of you. I've never been able to figure them out as if there has ever been anything wrong enough with a normal bike that someone decided we needed to adapt one of those pedal boats for land based transportation. Being a bit of a bike snob i love to poke fun at recumbents and their owners, usually by yelling for them to 'ride a wheelie.' Of course this is impossible on a bike without proper handlebars, but that's sort of the point. As if i needed any more convincing that recliners with wheels are a stupid invention this gentleman was so kind as to demonstrate one of the many reasons. When you slow down to stop on a regular bike you simply put your foot down and stand up. not so easy on a recumbent because you are almost lying on your back. so as he lost momentum at the crosswalk he started to tip over and his feet were still firmly attached to the pedals. The hand he put out to steady himself succeeded in giving way the moment his fingers brushed the pavement and within a matter of seconds he had tipped over fully and spilled himself out onto the road while going a blistering 1 mph. It's a lot like tipping over while waiting in the liftline at a ski area or occasionally walking into a wall with our eyes wide open. We've all done it, but that doesn't mean we can't take pleasure in watching someone else struggle too.

It's good to see other people falter at simple tasks, it always makes me feel better about myself. not because I'm any more capable but because it's nice to know I'm not alone. In due time I'll surely return the favor for the amusement of someone else.