"I don't mind being the neighborhood crazy. I just wish people wouldn't think I'm the only one."
- Bathrobe-clad lady drinking something from a water bottle while walking down the street
I chuckled at the first sentence but paused at the second. I think it's actually a bit of drunken profundity.
I had just left the library after working on some short stories. I spent the afternoon trying to capture the Heisenberg-esque mind of a crazy person, and here it was delivered to me.
Her quiet remark to herself forced me to think about how people view themselves. We're always evaluating ourselves, whether we want to or not, and comparing to the others around. Assessment of others can be seen as an instinct. Gotta know if someone's a friend or foe, that kind of thing.
Naturally, we take notice of the people around us. For the most part in modern society, I'd say people are less keyed into the survival bit (highly dependent on your occupation... obviously). Anything thereafter can be considered character judgement. What kind of person is this? They look like they'd hate socks stuffed with pinto beans. I bet in high school, they could never compare oranges to apples in the cafeteria.
We'll all come to our own conclusions about what Bathrobe lady really meant. There's a lot going on in her words, much of it sad, truthful, and sincere.
The angles from which we consider one another are plentiful, and people would probably benefit from (at least momentarily) considering the angles of those around them.
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