levity, please

so i'm sitting on the subway this afternoon when suddenly this elderly gentleman seated across the aisle pulls out a tiny prescription bottle. but when the old man pops open the container, it turns out there aren't any pills inside but rather a small portion of alabaster cream. medicated cream, i presume. steroid cream. probably hydroval or topicort, used to relieve redness and irritation brought on by certain skin conditions like eczema. and i should know.

anyhow, when the old man began rolling up his right pant leg, thus revealing his pasty, bony appendage, i kinda knew what was about to unfold next. the skin inflammation was centred in his knee area, so naturally that is where gramps would direct his efforts. but what i wasn't prepared for was the sheer length of time my public transit cohort would focus his energies on the process. why, he worked that joint like a professionally-trained masseur for a good twenty minutes or so before the family and i exited at union station.

but more than anything, today's subterranean surrealism reminded me of other similar incidents from my past showcasing the carefree and nonchalant habits of some of my fellow earth dwellers.

like the internationals in my summer esl classes who think nothing of dabbing their oily t-zones with medicated skin pads right in the middle of an intense lecture on the subjunctive mood.

or the overheated, hormonally-addled adolescents at school who insist on using the third floor of the building as their own personal love hotel, never missing a beat to explore one another's teeth and tonsil regions.

or the hard-hatted, construction zone warriors in my hood who seem oblivious to their environs as they repeatedly clear their throats in a sonic show of force before launching their golden loogies a dozen feet or more into the ether.

oh well. i guess i gotta share the air sometimes.

"when you look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that they're actually... beautiful." - my so-called life (1994)

short and sweet and to the point