IT'S GREAT TO BE OUT AND ABOUT

[schlomo]

It’s Great to Be Out and About

My damaged big toe has healed sufficiently so that yesterday I was able to amble about (with minor discomfort) from the Elks Club to my condo, a thirty-minute walk that always manages to entertain and edify me. No longer relegated to shuffling in the corridor, I resumed my outdoor jaunts, stepping stones for people watching, one of my hobbies after retiring 20 years ago.

Yesterday afternoon, I was not disappointed. An emaciated, haggard middle-aged woman near the bus-stop bench where I was seated was affording hand signals to the passing traffic. Sometimes, her gestures were obscene as she contemptuously gave selected drivers and passengers the finger. Occasionally her gesticulations were inspirational, almost a benediction, as her cupped hands indicated a Namaste moment.

The woman was a contradiction. Unaccountably and abruptly, she switched from being friendly to being fiendish, from offering a beatific hello punctuated with a one-way ticket to Hell. More frequently, she flapped and flailed her arms with the dedication of a no-nonsense aircraft marshal directing planes on the ground.

Even though I enjoyed the woman’s antics (her shtick was a hoot), one person in the passenger side of a convertible might not have been as amused. With a premeditated snarl or perhaps a facetious smirk, she gave the aircraft marshal wannabe the finger that just happened to be as swollen and blotchy as my recovering big toe.

While I do witness rare exceptions to the Aloha spirit in Honolulu, most people (homeless or otherwise) are kind to one another. I am grateful that I have the opportunity once again to observe people; whether they are creepy or cuddly, I will gladly toe the mark.

[wilful]

Schlomo - Good to hear your toe is better.  Do you live in a timeshare condo?