Clean Up, Clean Up

I'm back in Pasadena today, and I was out driving around to re-stock the pantry, to buy my lotto tickets (you can't win if you don't play) and to try to get my truck out into the rain to knock some of the dust off it. It's two days after the Rose Parade - which I'd kind of forgotten about since Saturday to tell you the truth - and the guys are out in the rain and cold tearing down the bleachers they put up just weeks ago. It's a sight I'd seen before, I've lived here a while. But something struck me as I drove down Colorado Blvd.
   The streets aren't nearly as trashed as they have been in years past.
   Immediately after the Rose Parade, when people either go home, go to a local restaurant, or head for the Rose Bowl, Colorado Blvd. looks like someone drove by and dumped a city's worth of garbage on every street corner. Most of the littering is not malicious (except for the silly string and tortillas), merely careless and the result of packing over a million people along a 5 mile parade route. And the litter usually lingers for days, even though city crews make the effort to clean up quickly.
   This year, though, the streets are almost spotless. For streets, anyway. The sidewalks still have some of the taped-off squares people use to reserve their spots, but I don't see a lot of silly string debris, or the tiny scraps from sugar or ketchup packets, or the paper wrapped around straws... It's almost like people suddenly became more courteous and conscientious.
   Sure, the city crews could just be very efficient and cleaning like demons, but I prefer to think that people are thinking about others and behaving themselves better. Maybe it's misguided, but it makes me feel better about humanity.

It's Still Funny

I'm not eleven years old any more, haven't been for some time. But inside me there's an eleven-year-old who still laughs at the wrong time and at the wrong thing. At least wrong for an adult.
   It's raining in LA today, and rain is a rare commodity in SoCal if you didn't already know. That means Angelenos don't know how to deal with wet pavement of any kind, in a car, on a bike, or on foot. Especially on foot.
   I saw three people fall down today, and - God help me - it was hilarious every time.
   The first was at lunch. Today is Taco Tuesday, which means the building where I work (Ugh...) allows a local taqueria to set up a catering line and cook tacos to order out on the lawn. Evidently it was a half-day at some local school - or the kids were cutting class - and about ten students were availing themselves of the low-price tacos. One kid was harrassing another, slapping him on the back of the head, that kind of thing, and when the other kid had enough and was about to fight back the first kid ran. He hit some wet tiles and SLAP! down he went. It looked like it hurt, but it was also a really good fall, laid out like he was taking a nap. Too funny.
   Driving home through Echo Park I saw a guy in what I thought was a trench coat running for the bus. Turns out it was a bath robe and he was wearing Crocs. In the rain. One wrong step and WHOOOP! down he goes, with the bathrobe belt just dangling in mid-air and one of his purple Crocs sailing over his head. Also hi-larious.
   Finally, I stopped at Trader Joe's for food. As I was leaving I saw a lady quickly approaching the (extremely) slick tiles by the elevator. Before I could think to myself 'Self, she ought to slow down...' she puts a foot on the slick tiles - in baby blue Crocs to match her scrubs - and SLAM! hits the ground like a sack of lead potatoes. Other people were there to help her up and ask her if she was okay, so I just passed her by and tried to hide my smile.
   There are two lessons here. One, it's funny when people fall down. It's probably always been funny and it'll probably always be funny.
   The second lesson is 'don't wear Crocs in the rain, dumb ass.' I would extend that to 'don't ever wear Crocs at all, dumb ass,' but I'll settle for the first one.