So, I was riding my bike home at 10PM tonight, and in the span of two blocks I encountered EVERY stupid, careless person in Burbank. So, I thought to myself, "A good way of approaching the world is to expect everyone you encounter (outside of those people you already know) to be stupid." And, a moment after thinking this, I saw a black cat chase a white cat across the street in front of me.
Not that I think that the universe or God or whatever arranged to have those two cats cross my path just to illustrate a point, but it did seem rather serendipitous that my black & white thinking would be so immediately mirrored in the physical world. Cool, eh? It just reminded me that putting the brain on autopilot is not an authentic way of living. There just isn't an easy way out.
That being said, when riding a bike on city streets you'll live longer if you adopt the mindset that everyone else in the world is an idiot.
7 comments:
well said... well said.
I too believe that to be a safe assumption when riding around a city. I shouldn't admit it, but I do live under the assumption that everyone is stupid until proven differently...sadly enough, it's worked out in my favor so far.
Exhibit A: Last week a patron came up to me, excited to practically a froth, to say that she'd heard Harry Potter was going to write another book beyond Deathly Hallows. All I could say was, "Well, good for him." What else could I do at that late venture?
Harry Potter's writing a book???!!!! AWESOME!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm going to the bookstore right now to camp out on the sidewalk until the release date! Bye!
That's SUCH a cute picture! I love kitties!!!!!!! Black and white thinking is cool, cuz you can flicker back and forth between the black and the white really fast, man. It's that in-betweenness, that razor's edge between black and white where wisdom lives, that's what I think. And when you flicker back and forth faster and faster and faster, you come to approximate that razor's edge (but you never actually get there) (When you do get there, you're a Buddha, and you disappear into mist and vapor)
You must have amazing nocturnal vision to have seen the little poop hole on the Black cat.
I'm terrified of riding my bike on the streets because I know that people are not watching for bikes, pedestrians or even other cars half the time. At least if i wreck while muntain biking it's probably because it's my own fault.
That's a funny comment Becky, I'm going to try it and if you don't hear from me again it's because I am mist.
Those were two mystical cats named Ying and Yang and that's their job... to teach you black and white.
Don't forget about the grey cat that's on the fence watching the others.
Post a Comment