Walk: Sunny Day

A genius is one that think outside the scientific standard.
An insane person is one that act outside the social norm.
The distinction between the two are not mutually exclusive.

I remember sitting in my high school English class, and my teacher read out a quote from Robert Frost that goes something like this, "On a path through the forest, I take the path least taken, because that is the most interesting one." I cannot recall that teacher's name, but many quotes that he read stuck to me.

On Saturday, I went up to Pasadena again to take pictures of a hut-shaped coffee store for my project in business class. The temperature during noon was over 90 Fahrenheit, and not see a single cloud can bee seen in the bright blue sky. The sky was as empty as air itself. The hot weather never really bother me before, and so I decided to walk as planned. In order to reduce the heat, I washed my hair with water before I left my house around noon. However, by the time I reached the second intersection, my hair was already dried.

Jogging up the hill was not easy, and it hit hard when you are unfit. I used to jog for almost 30 minutes continuously during the college days. That was with a calculus book, a 5 inches binder, and a bunch of junks in my backpack. Nowaday, I maxed out at 15 minutes with no extra weight. It wasn't pretty, but that did not stop me. Along the way, I went inside two stores that I passed by all the time in the last 10 years, but never enter them. First was Honey Baked Ham store, and another was a CVS store across the street from Honey Baked Ham. Interesting, but I didn't buy anything.

When I finally reaches the coffee store at Pasadena City College, I took out my camera and started taking picture. Since the store closes on weekend, I was taking picture of an empty hut-shaped store. Nearby, a photography student was eating her lunch under a tree, while occasionally looking at what I am doing. Maybe I was being too pessimistic and conscious, but she probably thought that I was either crazy or stupid. Who the heck take picture of a hut in those boring angles? Ten minutes later, she went back to her class.

I left the college after almost 20 minutes of photography, and along the way, I started to think about these walks that I am doing. Now, it just happened that one of my manager lived near by and occasionally drove on the streets and roads that I walk. In the past year, he spotted me twice on the road. To be fair, I don't walk on the same path, or go to the same place each week, but yet he spotted me twice on the random occasions. I thought to myself, who else saw and recognized me on the road? There had to be other people that recognized me out there. I don't look that much different since high school, so I am pretty sure someone noticed me, and did not say anything.

Disappointing. These people cannot stop themselves to even say "hello." Did they simply choose to ignore me, or simply cannot control themselves from moving ahead? Do these people even know that they are in control of their actions? Or is the simple act of saying "hello" is too hard? Too much time out of their lives? Too inconvenient? Too much trouble that it worth? Even a simple honk on your car would do. Maybe it has to be dramatic like the movie, where I got hit by his/her car before he/she come out, say a few words, and hope that I won't sue him/her.

Ever since I started walking, one car honk at me(couldn't tell who it was), and came across three people from high school. It is sad if they chose to ignore me. It it worse if their actions are beyond their control. Honestly, I do not mind that people act within the social norm, but I hate to see people constricted by the social norm. If you can think and judge independently, then act freely. Like they said, I am tire of excuses.


Sincerely,
Someone You Have Not Say Hello To :)