It?s funny how
a day can change. I don?t mean change as in you get some bad news
or when your goldfish dies. But, how your life can be uprooted and
then, you suddenly realize that things are not the way that they used to
be.
Let?s begin, with
a start, on the mall. A man lies under a parkbench, covering himself
from the rain. He is awakened by the sound of a plane, flying low,
making its final ascent to National Airport, just on the other side of
the river. Of course, the average observer cannot see where it is
heading -- this leaves a little room for imagination.
Really, the image
of the 14th Street bridge. That reminds most ?Washingtonian? of the
Air Florida incident. Many of the passengers definitely remember
how their lives changed that day. Our man, Jonny (for lack of a more
common name) cannot stand the sight, or the sound, of these massive airships.
They tend to distract him from one of the most pleasurable things a man
can do.
The image that
can be congealed in the mind: a perfect figure, tan lines that make
men imagine, the way the lips curl with a slight smile in ecstasy.
These images lull even the most insane man into a catatonic and un-obtrusive
state of bliss. Not even the slight pain in the lower triceps can
distract.
But this goddamn
plane can. It is a reminder of the life that he will never have.
How can it change? A bored Park Police officer might arrest him for
obscene public display. Man, he could be so lucky. Think about
how many times you, sitting in that comfy chair, have ever wanted to be
arrested--taken away to a warm bed and a different meal.
The people aboard
this plane, now disappeared, have had at least two squares today.
Generally speaking, these pupils of modern science feel pain so easily.
The stomach growls and Wham--must eat. The slightest discomfort calls
for relief. You can?t be uncomfortable, feel uncomfortable.
When will it ever be enough.
How can the life
of the mind be any different? Starving, desire for original thought,
the slight pain felt when the intellectual realizes that most people are
idiots. This is the true change. How many lies can a person
put up with until they realize the truth? Why, why, and why?
The curiosity of the other side. The fear that he instills in meager
small talk by using undefinable words like furtive and obsequious.
Really people,
when will we ever wake up? We all work hard to have those very few
moments of reflection -- passivity, so that we can unwind and try to live
a reasonably sane existence. But how sane can a person remain as
they copulate without conception, act without thinking, and deny without
consideration. How real can this same person remain with compassion,
first for themselves, and then for other ?real? people. Can he or
she really care? Who cares.
The point being
is that the change in the lifestyle creates. It creates a new mainframe:
one without the usual comforts found around you. Usually this can
be sparked by the original curious thought. (I do realize that I
riddle a little too much). Why we all change is to be different.
Our lives can change every day without notice; that?s what makes us different,
individual, unlike anyone else. It gives us reason to find a hip
scene, change our appearance, and, sometimes, completely drop off the face
of the earth. (Only to return again, anxious for the change, so as
to catch up on all of the things we missed during our adventure into the
realm of our own significance.)
Since a day begins
and ends for most people, our changes begin and end. But no one really
knows where. That?s the irony. We make our own reference points,
define them, and this causes us to believe that things may be different.
Where do you stand?