Day of Oddities

I had a very strange day earlier this week. I kept crossing paths with unusual people, reading shocking things, and coming across strange occurrences that had no plausible explanations. Here's the run down.

I got off a bus at Harvard Square. I began walking down the sidewalk to the T (AKA the subway) entrance when a thin, older man rolled up to the curb on a bike and stopped. He had a long white beard and wore cut-off jeans and an open jean vest over his bare chest. Not paying this man much attention, I kept walking. Then the man began yelling. "I am tired of being stopped by Harvard police! I do not want to be stopped by Harvard police! I do not respect your establishment!" I turned around and saw the man yelling at a large gate that led into Harvard campus. He kept yelling about he did not respect Harvard or their police force. I wanted to yell back that we, meaning the general public, did not appreciate or respect raging hippies. Sadly, my fear of being stabbed with a crack pipe kept me from voicing my rebuttal.

After getting off the T, I emerged from the underground. A woman was walking in front of me and we passed by two men who were sitting on the ground next to a fountain. One was playing a guitar but both of them were singing what sounded like improvised lyrics. One of them, the dirtier and uglier and non-guitar-playing one, leaned forward as the woman in front me walked by. He looked at her and told her she was beautiful and asked for her number. The woman didn't pay him any attention but I wanted to kick that S.O.B in the teeth.

Later, I was reading The New York Times in the library and found two articles that were very interesting, yet odd, nonetheless :

Article 1 : Circumcision is believed to reduce the risk of males contracting HIV by 60%. There is a huge effort in Africa for widespread circumcision of adult males to help with their HIV and AIDS problems. One way activists hope to do accomplish their goals of foreskin removal is via an inexpensive and simple medical device. This device is a rubber ring that is locked around the penis and pinches the foreskin so that it will eventually die and fall off. The article said it was relatively painless process, and I agree that reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS is important. But, boy, I have never been more thankful for my parents taking care of that for me when I was a baby. Watching a watch part of my penis slowly die, wither and dry out, and then fall off does not sound fun at all.

Article 2 : One major health issue in Africa is the improper disposal of human waste. If it is not disposed of properly, it can leak into water supplies or even be tracked around and find its way into human food, causing illness. To help combat this, one company has issued the PoopPee bag. Yep. You guessed it. These are baggies that people are supposed to poop and pee into. The best part though, is how the bag is lined with a certain chemical that turns the human waste into fertilizer! These bags, after being filled, are supposed to be tied shut and then mailed to the company which will then give them to PoopPee bag sellers who go door to door selling this "fertilizer". While this may help alleviate some health problems, I have no idea how this is a socially acceptable solution.

After reading all about home procedures for adult male circumcision and the usefulness of PoopPee bags, I went into the bathroom. I approached the urinal and found the floor surrounding it shimmering with urine. My mind was boggled. Missing the urinal is simply not an option. You piratically stand over the dumb thing! That much pee on the floor had to have been intentional. Perhaps, the culprit was angry about the fines the library charged him and exacted his revenge in their bathroom. That, or someone tried to use a PoopPee bag but it didn't work out so well.

Later that day, I was in the Boston Common when I spotted a shirtless, older man up ahead of me. He was just standing. And then he took a step forward, stumbled, and then fell backwards in the most graceful and amusing way I have ever seen. He stuck his arms out and one leg out and kind of sat down with a slight roll onto his back. It almost looked intentional, like modern dance or something. But then, as he sat on the ground, he put a tiny plastic cup behind him and tried to lean against it for support as if it were the back of a chair. Then he just got up and walked away, looking around and mumbling to no one in particular.

It was an odd day. I checked to see if there was a full moon. There wasn't. Apparently, this is common in larger East Coast cities. I am totally fine with that.