Quote of the Day: Pascal

The very quotable Blaine Pascal once said, "All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room." I was reminded of this quote today on the bus even though it's not technically a room, but a strange quasi-public-private experience where everyone tries very hard to pretend that no one else exists.

I had a couple incidents this morning on it that have put me in a contemplative mood. First of all, throughout the whole trip the guy across from me was staring at me so intensely that it looked like he either wanted to kiss me or hit me. (It doesn't really matter which because I would not have welcomed either outcome.) I tried to pretend like I didn't see him and turned my iPod up instead of asking what he wanted. I must have turned it up too loud because I was so busy listening to an old Pearl Jam song a few minutes later that I almost missed my stop. When the bus stopped, I had no idea where I was and it took me so long to re-orient myself that I almost didn't make it off the bus in time.

So my morning commute has got me thinking that my iPod may be ruining my life. I worry that I am building an electronic cocoon around myself that will prevent from interacting with the craziness and wonderfulness that is the world around me. Don't get me wrong, cocoons can be quite useful. They protect and nourish caterpillars until they become butterflies but I think it's a little too late in the game for me to turn into a butterfly. Also, butterflies aren't very manly. So I am trying to figure out how to strike a balance between never being bored and being open to the experience of life. Sometimes, I can think of no worse fate than no longer being able to perceive the world around me with a great degree of accuracy.

So I turned my iPod off this morning during my daily morning walk when I saw a homeless guy scraping the paint off the top of a fence post in Pioneer Square with a huge circular saw blade. I didn't ask what he was doing because he looked really focused on the task at hand and I feel it is best not to frighten people who are holding sharp objects. Man, that dude was intense. I have to admit I'm slightly jealous of that intensity.