A Burst of Energy and Uncivil Society in Everyday Ramblings

It is not like I didn’t know this already but once again today I clearly understood that if I actually do whatever it is I am actively procrastinating on a great deal of energy is released and becomes available.

The studio manager asked for a picture and description of my classes about a month ago to include in marketing materials for the studio and the woo woo wellness center it is attached to. I asked him about his vision for the “Conscious Movement” studio when I met him a couple of weeks ago.

He said he didn’t have a vision, that he just wanted there to be more people interested in using the studio and a more robust online presence.

He did get me the chairs I asked for, which I happily used in class on Wednesday.

But the studio reeked of incense when we got there and it was problematic enough that I kept us pretty close to the floor where it wasn’t so intense. So I wanted to indicate that this wasn’t okay in a shared space like this. It was wet and quite cold and there was no way to vent the room.

I sent off all the requested material this morning and was feeling pretty good.

Is it just because I am getting old that it seems to me that people are behaving in public in a more uncivil way? A little more self-centered? I know I was more self-centered in my behavior when I was younger.

I received an email just before I headed out on the bus to the grocery at lunch today from Credo Action (Credo is my socially responsible phone company and has been for years) that said in the subject line, “Violence is not a product of mental illness. Violence is a product of anger.”

So I was thinking about that.

On the bus back with a regular driver who is older and very competent and almost always on time I was thinking about how quiet it was and how cool I got my favorite seat when a young man put his bike in the rack on the front of the bus and then started fussing with a whole bunch of bags he was carrying as if he was looking for his fare.

The bus driver after a few moments of waiting asked politely for him to present his fare and the young man said, “Go, just go, I am looking for it. That is what you do, you go.” But the bus driver waited and the young man started swearing and the bus driver asked him to mind his language. There were children on the bus.

I had a pretty good view of all this. The young man swore some more in response to that and the driver asked him to get off the bus. The young man started to and then he turned around and spit right into the drivers face.

It was shocking.

This wasn’t racial, by the way, everyone was Caucasian. But it was truly shocking. The driver got up and followed the young man off the bus to make sure he got his bike I think. He stayed calm. The young man swung at the driver!

He defended himself and about 5 youngish unrelated men got off the bus to assist subdue the guy. They got him off the driver, took pictures, someone tried to take a video and the young man got on his bike and rode off.

The driver was calling in the incident as we drove by him pedaling along. He gave the driver the finger as we passed by.

Then a few stops later a transit security officer showed up and we all trooped off and onto another bus. I was late getting back to work (I texted Saint Joe) but was quite happy no one was hurt. I think the driver deserves some sort of award.

The whole incident made me sad. I almost burst into tears sitting there in my favorite seat.

How did it come to this where that kind of behavior is considered acceptable enough that the young man was not afraid of the consequences of his action?

The news is so profoundly disturbing these days. Could it have something to do with our leadership? I am just sayin’.

But in the meantime if you are looking for a way to feel a bit better, might I recommend doing one manageable thing you are procrastinating on? :)

Last updated November 10, 2017