Jaywalking at the Police Station...

This morning, I was walking toward work. There's a police station that I often walk past-- not always, as there are many routes from the train station to the office-- and today, just as I got to 8th and Virginia, the light turned against me and I had to wait. Another man was standing there, bouncing on his feet, watching the traffic. A cop came out of the Starbucks there and walked up behind us. The other man was clearly anxious to cross, waiting for a clearing in the traffic, bouncing energetically. The cop and I exchanged looks.

The man took three steps out and the cop whistled. "Hey, buddy," he said. He jerked his head with a 'come here' motion. "Just wait. It'll change."

When it did, the man and I walked across the intersection. The cop walked the other way. "Gotta be careful," the man said.

I mean, really. Jaywalking at the police station, how stupid is that?

Finding stuff on the wrong shelf

I went to the bookstore and picked up a copy of The Sketchnote Handbook, which I've wanted for a while to help round out my illustrative practices and to help me keep better notes. This is one of those more practical "self improvement" projects, along the lines of the Write Now course I took a few years ago to improve my handwriting. I went to Elliot Bay Bookstore, because I know I'd seen a copy of it there sometime ago.

After failing to find it in any of the sections where I had expected it, I asked at the help desk. The woman behind the desk said, "Oh, it's in the computers section."

She took me to the stand and and found it. After flipping through it for a moment, afraid I'd mis-identified it, I handed it to her and said, "This has nothing to do with computers. It's all about taking better notes in pen and ink."

She flipped through it as well, her brow furrowing deeper as she examined the contents. "You're right. It's completely mis-shelved. I'll check with our catalog."

I agreed that would be a good idea. "Well, that's my surrealism moment for the day." She laughed.

Reading Comprehension is a chore for some people...

So, I'm riding the SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley), and this woman looks right at me and says, "I don't like your t-shirt."

I look down at my shirt. It reads, "Knowledge is power. Power Corrupts. Study Hard. BE EVIL." I looked back up at her. "Why not?" I said.

"It says that smart people ought to crush the little people."

Now, I'm not sure why little people are supposed to be dumb. Or why smart people are supposed to have the power to crush those who oppose us. I said, "That's not what it means. It's a syllogism. A logical argument. We teach kids both of these things. If they're both true, then 'being evil' is the logical outcome of studying."

"Well, I don't like it," she said, and turned her back on me.

Well, at least I had a charming conversation with a very young boy on the train who wanted to show me his new Monopoly set.