This morning I saw a curious thing on my way to school. There's a small boy - maybe in 2nd grade - who always happens upon me as I'm turning the final corner on my route. We usually exchange pleasant smiles, and laugh at funny faces we trade back and forth. It's all very stimulating.
I see men peeing in public all the time here. Thankfully their backs are turned to the public, but it's no mystery what's going on. Nobody seems to care, and neither do I. Then this morning I saw my little buddy doing exactly that. He had positioned himself in between a minivan and a building, and was casually urinating. This would have hardly been shocking had it been an old man. But there was something bizarre about seeing such a small person engaged in an old-er person's activity. It would have been like happening upon a 7 year old playing street craps or sneaking a cigarette on his lunch break. I don't know why I reacted this way, but I did. So he finished and caught up to me with his usual jolly grin. I started laughing, and I got the sense he knew what was up.
Why couldn't he have peed at his house? I mean usually older people publicly relieve themselves out of desperation, indifference, or drunkeness. Could my friend have felt one of these things? Was he indifferent? Does he do that often? These are questions I would love to ask him. Moments like those make me feel lucky I landed in elementary school. I wasn't happy about it at first, but now I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
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