Introspection

I had to go down to Old Town today, and as I walked there and back I learned a few things about myself.

   I don't expect homeless people to be very tall. Certainly not 6'5". I don't expect them to look something like Garrison Keillor either. I like my homeless people to be smaller than me, and sickly, it makes me feel safer.

   Looking for a business I don't know the name of with a half-remembered address from someone who's never been to Pasadena is an ill-advised venture. But it does get me out of the house for an hour or so.

   If I'm distracted - really not paying attention - say, looking for an address or a business that doesn't exist, people give me a lot of room. I don't know if I look like I might start swinging, or if people suddenly become more courteous, but the end result is the same, they stay away. And I'm cool with that.

   It bothers me when women pushing baby strollers also have little pocket dogs trailing on a leash behind them. There seem to be plenty of them in Old Town during the day, and I don't know if they're treating the tiny dog like a baby or treating the baby like a tiny dog. Kind of creeps me out and I never realized it before.

   I don't mind when skateboarders almost commit suicide by rolling through a crosswalk when cars are turning left. It does bother me when pedestrians do stupid things, I really don't want to see anybody killed, but, surprisingly enough, the same does not apply to skateboarders. Who knew? Douchebags shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk anyway.

   Evidently I don't look like someone who wants to receive the word of God. A roly-poly fellow with a scraggly beard and a stained jacket was handing out Jesus literature while I waited at a crosswalk. He tried to give a pamphlet to everyone but me, and, to tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed. Maybe he could tell I was distracted.