Yesturday was kind of a drag. I was running out of money, tobacco and I didn’t have any food in my fridge. Now, I’ve got tobacco and food, 2 out of 3, and I’m content with that for the time being. There are a few, small occourences worth mentioning, though. Here’s what happened yesturday evening.
So I was sitting at the tram heading homewards after I’d bought some tobacoo from a little kiosk in Bislet where you get 150g for the price of 100g. I was in a rather good mood, the day being almost over and I’d creatively produced a song, a couple of poems and worked on a short-story, and I was sitting there just content with everything, waiting for fate to give me something to laugh at. In front of me was a skinny woman, brown hair, distinctive features, who had looked pretty angry at me when I first entered and sat down in front of her. I didn’t take any particular notice, I have a way of being disliked and thought this was just one more of those kind of "fine ladies", until I saw the title of the book she was reading. "Overvin angst und ontsickerheit", Dutch I believe, for Overcoming your angst and insecurity. I felt like saying something, like "Hey, if you want to overcome your angst, don’t read books like that in public..", or "is it a good book? Does it work? – I found the How to kill your inner demons (for newbies) quite effective", but my humanity (oh, my humanity!) kept me from it.
Instead I looked out the window, keeping myself from bothering this nervous wreck.
In the mainstreet, Storgata, the tram had to stop for a red light before one of the scheduled stops, and I entertained myself by observing all those people running like mad to reach this tram, even though I’m sure they knew that another one was coming only 10 minutes later. People are in such a hurry, I silently stated to myself, and just as that conclusion had reached my concious mind, my observation was manifested;
On the sidewalk was an old woman, 75-80 years from what I gathered, with a crutch – you know the kind that spend all her sparetime (which is the rest of her life) sitting with her imaginary friends complaining about how much her fragile hips are bothering her – and SHE WAS RUNNING LIKE A MAD HORSE to catch the tram!!! Crutch swaying to her left side, hitting people and running into people, glowing with a desperate look of a horny monk!! I swear, laughing out loud (LOL) was the only solution! I had by then, naturally, forgot all about the nervous wreck in front of me, who nearly jumped out of her seat due to the stress I’d inflicted upon her already tense situation. Here she was, taking the steps back to a normal life, and I came to ruin it all. I couldn’t stop laughing, though, this was like some bizarre interpretation of a Stephen King novel, the dead runs again, and soon I found tears running as I laughed so hard.
The old woman catched the tram while some youngsters didn’t! Whatever happened to that angstfilled woman, though, is an unknown tale. I just hope that I didn’t scare the shit out of her, making her commiting herself for another three years to that voluntary psychiatric institution I imagined she’d just left..
I reached my stop, but was so filled with energy that I underestimated my jump down from the seat and to the tramdoor, so I accidently jumped into a slightly blond, slightly not, female standing there. I excused myself and it turned out that she was in a mood where she found it heartily to forgive me. Everything seemed to be amusing, funny, entertaining, going my way, and here I was on my way home where a cup of coffe, cigarettes and Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the diner was waiting.
So, I was singing down the streets there, on the eastside of Oslo, whistling songs of the American Whistler (mr. Roger Whittaker) and just thought the day complete. Until I reached my block and sensed that someone had turned the corner just behind me in a I’m going to rob you fashion. I flexed. I kept the key to the frontdoor ready, and planned to surprise my stalker by suddenly turning left to my door. And I did. But I also scared myself, or surprised is more like it.. There, in front of me, was a beautiful, 25-year old woman smiling at me, probably because she thought I was a funny, lil’ chap singing on my way home after a beer or something, and she’d stopped right next to me. I smiled back at her, opened the door, and she walked in and thanked me. My logic instincts told me that she lived here.. Now we’d entered the court of our building, where there are three-five entrances and passages to other buildings, still she turned left around the corner, following my steps, and voiced a question when I put my key in the door: "Do you live in this stairway?" I confirmed that I did and shook her hand and found myself utterly rejoiced of what had begun as a bad day. She lived on the forth floor and said she was looking forward to meeting me again.
All in all yesturday was a bad day that rebuilt itself! Now, if Lady Luck would care to send some cash my way, I would be very pleased, but I don’t expect it. Don’t expect the unexpected, because the unexpected will happen anyway, and if you expect it it is expected, leaving you with other alternative fates not counted upon.. and if not, I get paid next week.